Harry Kane insists defeat to Iceland can be useful 'wake-up call' for England ahead of Euro 2024 challenges
Harry Kane says England's defeat to Iceland was a useful "wake up call" that Euro 2024 will not be plain sailing for Gareth Southgate's much-fancied side.
Iceland ruined the squad's send-off with a deserved 1-0 win at Wembley on Friday, raising questions about England's readiness to go all the way in Germany.
Kane warned that the group games against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia will be similar tests, but says England deserve to be judged on their performances at the finals.
"Pretty much all the group games will be very similar [to Iceland in] how the teams set up," Kane said after the game.
"We are going in there as one of the favourites and that is a responsibility that we have to take forward now, because we have earned the right to be there. We will never take it for granted.
"I have said many times to judge us on the tournament form, on the tournament football. Of course there will be some noise about Friday but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so.
"Ultimately it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch. This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think. There is a lot of work to do.”
"We fell below our standards without the ball and that is something we have to review and get better with," Kane added.
"We had spells where we did well and played some really nice football and created some good chances. But against these types of teams especially, you have to be more clinical. I think it goes back to without the ball that we need to improve.
"There probably was not enough hunger in the duels, in the second balls and winning those. They are a big important part when you are playing these teams, to sustain the pressure and really suffocate them. We didn’t do that well."
Despite the unexpected setback, Kane is confident England are "on the right" path and believes their near miss in the last Euros, when they lost the final to Italy on penalties, has made the squad even hungrier to go one better this time.
"Being so close in the last Euros, there is a real hunger to be back," the captain said.
"It comes around quick, if I’m honest. We had the World Cup and we are back here again. I feel like we are on the right path. But as we all know as well, it is really difficult to win these tournaments. There are a lot of things that you have to do right and prepare right, and you need a bit of luck here and there. Every winner does.
“We have that mindset that we can achieve it. We also know there is a lot of hard work from now until the final in July."
England also suffered heartbreak in the Qatar World Cup 18 months ago when Kane missed a penalty in their 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France.
"Pretty s***, wasn’t it?" said the Bayern Munich forward when asked about the incident.
"In football you are going to have ups and downs on the way. Of course that was a down for me at the moment but I think over two years, for club and for country, I have put that to bed and I am just excited for another major tournament."
Kane was sidelined for Bayern's final game of the season with a niggling back problem and featured for 30 minutes in England's first warm-up friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina before playing an hour on Friday night.
He missed a fine chance to level the game, miscueing a volley from Cole Palmer's cross, but insists he is not playing in any discomfort and has enjoyed the preparation for the finals.
"No, I am all good," he said.
"The plan was for me to play 60 minutes today. It has been a really good camp for me personally in that sense. Getting a good week of training, 30 minutes, few more days of training, then 60 minutes. I feel really prepared and in a good place.
“It would have been nice if I had scored that finish [against Iceland] but that is the way it goes. Overall it has been a good camp for me personally for my fitness. We have a nice build-up now into the business end."
