Harry Kane reveals England ‘messaging’ from Thomas Tuchel v Argentina

England’s Harry Kane was gutted after his side conceded two late goals to lose to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, and the captain said they tried to hold on after going ahead but it was just not enough.

England took the lead through Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute goal, but came under enormous pressure as Argentina drove forward. Enzo Fernandez netted the equaliser and Lautaro Martinez scored the winner in added time.

READ: Thomas Tuchel f***s it as Argentina smash England’s bus to end World Cup dream

“We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on,” Kane told the BBC.

“At this level, it’s not enough, so just gutted, gutted because we’ve worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is.

“After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us just not being able to match them man for man, it just was wave after wave and we were trying to hold on as we were putting blocks in.

“But in the end, it wasn’t enough.”

England have not reached a World Cup final since winning the trophy in 1966, and Thomas Tuchel’s side came so close but ultimately were left with the same old sinking feeling.

“The boys are always ready for any moment in the game. When we went ahead, the messaging was to go again and get another goal,” Kane said.

“Then obviously once they scored their two goals, it was to try and find something, but we couldn’t quite get the momentum back in the game.

“We had a lot of good moments in this tournament. A lot of good games, another semi-final. We talk about knocking on the door. We’re close, we just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.

“Just gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone, the team, the staff, the fans.”

Tuchel – immediately blamed by most England fans – said: “Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I didn’t have the feeling that an offensive substitution would help.

“We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, became more and more passive, we couldn’t keep the ball, so I think it was not a structural problem.

“We changed nothing after the goal but the match changed completely.

“But again, I can understand that these discussions are out there, millions of coaches after the game who know it better.

“You can discuss this with a million coaches,” Tuchel continued. “I had to make a decision on the pitch, it’s how I analyzed the match, and I take the responsibility.

“At the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. I think we deserved to be up 1-0, played one of our better matches, maybe the best match in the circumstances.

“We couldn’t bring it over the line but at the moment, no regrets.

“We tried to help but of course the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say it was wrong.”