FIFA is being asked to stop England’s World Cup strategy that worked so well against Croatia.
FIFA has been asked to ban Harry Kane’s tricky penalty move after England’s 4-2 win against Croatia. Thomas Tuchel’s team kicked off their World Cup journey with a strong win over their Group L rivals.
England took the lead with a penalty just 12 minutes in, but it almost started badly when Kane’s first shot was saved by Croatia’s keeper, Dominik Livaković. Luckily, Kane got a second chance because Livaković stepped off his line too early, so the penalty was retaken and Kane scored.
After the game, Kane’s unusual penalty style got some criticism. Former player Kevin-Prince Boateng even said it should be banned. FIFA rules say the goalkeeper must keep one foot on or above the goal line when the penalty is taken.
Croatia fought back with a goal from Martin Baturina, and then Kane scored another just before halftime to make it 2-1. The game stayed exciting as Croatia equalized again through Petar Musa.
Tuchel’s halftime pep talk worked well. Jude Bellingham scored two minutes into the second half to make it 3-2, and then Marcus Rashford sealed the win with a goal in the 85th minute. England will play Ghana next on June 23.
Kane admitted he was nervous after the first penalty was saved but said he knew Livaković liked to move early during penalties. “I was pretty sure he’d come off the line if I did the stutter step,” Kane told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t 100% sure, so when it got retaken, I changed my approach a bit. That’s why I study the keepers – and it worked out well in the end.”
Even if Livaković had stayed on his line, a Croatian player, Joško Gvardiol, had also moved early, which could have led to a retake too.
Kane praised Tuchel’s halftime talk, saying, “The first half was okay, but we were disappointed to concede like we did. The manager’s talk fired us up, telling us to lose on our own terms if it had to happen. And we came out strong in the second half. We pushed hard, and they couldn’t keep up. Everyone did well for our first game.
“Without the ball, we played more aggressively. It was tough, especially with players like Luka Modrić dropping back, making it tricky to mark him. But our intensity is our biggest strength, and we’ll need to use that even more.
“Once we took the lead, we controlled the game and never really looked in danger. We even scored on a counter-attack and had chances to score more.”