Gareth Southgate rejects 'audacious' Harry Kane penalty request: 'Never going to happen'

Dan Kilpatrick
·2-min read
On target: Harry Kane did end up scoring off the bench for England against Bosnia and Herzegovina (The FA via Getty Images)
On target: Harry Kane did end up scoring off the bench for England against Bosnia and Herzegovina (The FA via Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate has revealed that Harry Kane asked to come off the bench to take England's penalty in the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina and says the captain will start against Iceland on Friday.

Kane played the final half an hour and scored England's third goal as Southgate's side began preparations for the European Championship with a 3-0 win over the Bosnians in a warm-up friendly at St James' Park.

Cole Palmer opened the scoring from the spot with his last act of the game after Ezri Konsa was fouled, with Kane among a raft of substitutions immediately after the goal.

In between, Trent Alexander-Arnold also scored, as an experimental England side turned the screw in the second half following a drab opening 45 minutes.

"He had the audacity to ask to come on and to score the penalty which was never going to happen," Southgate said of Kane. "The plan for him today was to have half an hour and then he will start on Friday.

"I thought the intensity of the game was good," added the England boss. "We had players that needed minutes and we needed a competitive game.

"The opposition was dogged so we had to be patient and keep probing - we felt our quality would tell. There was some good individual performances and hopefully we have come through with no issues."

Eberechi Eze was England's standout player of the first half, playing from the left of the front four, while Palmer was lively at No10 on his first England start.

"I thought Cole linked the game well for us," Southgate said.

"Lovely for him to get his first goal and then with Eze he was really pleased. He played with that freedom and swagger. It is great to see a young player come into this environment and do that."

Alexander-Arnold started the game in midfield alongside Chelsea's Conor Gallagher but scored with a brilliant first-time volley after moving to right-back for the final 30 minutes.

"We know his qualities, we don't need to go over too much of what we know," Southgate said of the Liverpool man. "It is a beautiful finish, he made a difficult finish look very straightforward."

There was also a debut for Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, who was composed at the base of midfield as England cruised to victory.

"He trains as he plays. He receives it well and he is very composed, that sounds simple but it is not a simple thing to do,” Southgate said.

"He can see a picture when the ball arrives with him."

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