As England trailed France 1-0 in the World Cup quarter-final, he had led the revival, carrying the physical fight to Dayot Upamecano, going close on a couple of occasions, giving his team hope.
But in the moment, everyone thought they knew. England would have had the momentum at a crucial time. They were already playing well; now they would sweep to a statement victory and a semi-final against Morocco.
Kane tweeted on Sunday that he would not hide from his penalty miss. “It hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it,” he wrote.
Since the 90th-minute deflected winner for Spurs at Aston Villa in November 2014 that ignited his toplevel career, there has been the sense of his stars aligning, of seasononseason progress, the development of his game.
MIND-BLOWING MOOD He is famously singleminded and resilient and there is no doubt he will want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible. At least that will happen in relatively short order – the winter World Cup has this upside for him.