>
Harry Kane was left “alone and vulnerable” in the crucial 30 seconds before missing his penalty against France, a leading professor of football psychology said, because his usual “protector” Jordan Henderson had been taken from him.
England captain Kane missed his penalty in the 84th minute of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final, condemning the Three Lions to a 2-1 defeat and elimination.
The Tottenham striker had successfully converted a penalty earlier to draw England 1-1 but was unable to restore parity for the second time after the unusual miss.
Harry Kane was left without his usual penalty ‘protector’ Jordan Henderson for the second of his shots against France on Saturday because the midfielder has been withdrawn
Having scored a penalty in the match, Kane skipped his crucial second as England lost
England manager Gareth Southgate comforts Kane after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to France.
Geir Jordet, a professor at the Norwegian School of Sports Science, offered insight into why Kane failed a fascinating series of tweets.
Jordet specializes in elite football performance and the psychological aspect of the game, with extreme pressure management, decision-making and talent development among his interests.
He noted that Liverpool midfielder Henderson is the “world leader” in standing up with his teammates about to take a penalty, ensuring that opponents cannot get in close to “play mentally” or deflect the taker.
Henderson was on the field for the first penalty, taking the ball himself and then handing it over to Kane, before making sure no French player could approach him for a ‘last word’.
Football psychologist Geir Jordet has explained in a Twitter thread what went wrong – he intends to analyze how Harry Kane’s teammate supported him – or not
Jordet points out that Jordan Henderson is ‘a world leader’ when it comes to supporting teammates who are about to step up and take a penalty.
As Kane stepped up to take his first penalty early in the second half, Henderson ‘escorted’ him into the penalty area and prevented the approaching French players.
Kane made no mistake with his first penalty and restored parity after Tchouameni’s first goal.
Jordet also pointed out that Henderson is alert to the possibility of a rebound on a penalty
However, Henderson was pulled five minutes before Kane’s second kick and was therefore unable to play “his normal support role”, notes Jordet.
That left Kane surrounded only by French players for the first 30 seconds after VAR gave the penalty after Theo Hernandez’s push on Mason Mount.
Mount and then Jude Bellingham realized this and stepped up to accompany Kane, with Bellingham even ‘escorting’ Olivier Giroud out of the box.
But Jordet asks: ‘All good, but was this reactive and too late? And even he added noise instead of removing it?
Henderson was brought off and replaced by Mason Mount in the 79th minute, after France scored again through Olivier Giroud to make it 2–1.
It meant Henderson was unavailable to support Kane when the second penalty was awarded five minutes later, leaving him ‘vulnerable’ with the French players in the immediate vicinity.
Eventually, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount stepped up, but perhaps the damage had already been done.
After Kane missed the penalty, the first players around him were wearing blue jerseys.
While the French players wanted to celebrate with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, some clearly goad Kane
Bellingham, showing maturity beyond his 19 years, was the first to comfort Kane after his penalty had cleared the bar but the damage had been done.
Immediately after Kane’s miss, the French players ‘attacked’ him, but no one from the England team stepped up until Bellingham did.
Although the French players mostly ran to celebrate with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the photo showed that at least a few seemed to goad Kane on.
According to Jordet, Bellingham showed himself to be a ‘future leader’ for England by being the first to comfort Kane after his failure.
Kane was left alone in the French box until Bellingham came forward to comfort him.
Jordet points out that the rest of the England players ‘turned their backs’ on Kane after the ruling
At the final whistle, Henderson was the one who stuck to Kane in disappointment.
Jordet used an image of Marcus Rashford’s lonely road back after missing his penalty in last year’s European Championship final loss to Italy for his latest point.
After the final whistle, with England eliminated, Kane’s teammates did console him but Henderson made a special effort.
Henderson was “not saying or doing anything, just hanging out there, clearly on purpose”, in Jordet’s words.
Kane’s first penalty had seen him tie with Wayne Rooney for England’s all-time top scorer with 53, but he will now have to wait until March to top the total.