Without star striker Harry Kane, who was absent at short notice, England’s national football team surprisingly lost their friendly match against Japan.
National coach Thomas Tuchel’s team lost to the Asian World Cup participants Wembley-London Stadium with 0:1 (0:1). Premier League-Legionnaire Kaoru Mitoma (23rd minute) from Brighton & Hove Albion scored the winning goal in the first half.
For Tuchel it was the second defeat in his twelfth international match on the sidelines “Three Lions”. The failure of Bayern attacker Kane was only announced shortly before the start of the game. As a precaution, the striker will be spared and treated further after the unspecified incident, as the English association announced.
Tuchel: Kane injury “out of nowhere”
Tuchel explained before kick-off that his captain’s injury was “out of nowhere” occurred. “It just happened. He had to stop training yesterday after 15 minutes. He had no chance of being there today. We have to wait for further evaluation.”said the 52-year-old.
The 32-year-old Kane, who has scored 78 goals in 112 international matches for the “Three Lions”, was not scheduled to be part of Tuchel’s squad against Uruguay (1-1) on Friday, but was scheduled to play against Japan. Neither the association nor Tuchel gave any specific details about the injury. At FC Bayern, Kane will be required to play in the Bundesliga away game at SC Freiburg on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). The first leg of the game awaits on the following Tuesday Champions League-Quarterfinals at Real Madrid.
Tuchel: “Not the end of the world”
Tuchel appealed for patience after England’s historic defeat. For the “Three Lions” it was their first ever defeat against an Asian team. “It definitely hurts. It’s always painful to lose, and losing at home hurts a lot. We weren’t punished for much, for a counterattack in the first half.”said Tuchel.
“We have to put this in perspective, it’s not the end of the world”Tuchel said: “We need these games, we know it’s a tough opponent, we didn’t have several players available. Another new formation, we’ve tried a lot and we have to learn from it.” Most recently, England only managed a 1-1 draw against Uruguay.
