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November 19, 2018

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Kane fires England into semis

Harry Kane and England advanced to the final four of the inaugural UEFA Nations League by avenging their World Cup semifinal loss to Croatia.

The England captain ended a seven-game goal drought to complete a comeback at Wembley, sealing a 2-1 victory yesterday in the final group game in European soccer’s newest competition. It came four months after England lost by the same score in Russia to Croatia in its first World Cup semifinal in 28 years.

Croatian players have said since July that they were inspired by the perceived arrogance of the “Football’s Coming Home” lyric in the “Three Lions” team anthem.

The song was played immediately after the final whistle at Wembley Stadium in London where Croatia won 11 years ago to deny England a trip to the 2008 European Championship.

Andrej Kramaric scored 12 minutes into the second half to put Croatia up, but Kane set up substitute Jesse Lingard’s equalizer in the 78th. The Tottenham Hotspur striker netted the winner with a sliding kick seven minutes later for his first goal for England since the round of 16 at the World Cup and clinch top spot in Group A4.

England finished with seven points, one ahead of Spain and three clear of Croatia, which was relegated to the second tier.

On Saturday, Portugal, again playing without Cristiano Ronaldo, drew with Italy 0-0 to pick up the point it needed to qualify for the semifinals and confirm it as host of the first Final Four in June.

The other two semifinalists will be Belgium or Switzerland and France or the Netherlands.




 

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