It must have been a little unnerving for Harry Kane, watching from the sidelines as the final seconds of extra-time ebbed away and penalties loomed ever closer.
Kane is never comfortable taking a back seat, and the last time he was hooked with minutes remaining of a knockout game, Bayern Munich conceded twice to collapse against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
By the time penalties came around, though, Kane felt “really calm” and, as Gareth Southgate pointed out, it was a measure of the quality of England’s takers and their ‘process’ that they nervelessly navigated spot-kicks without their record goalscorer.
Kane had finally been replaced by Ivan Toney — who dispatched his penalty with a menacing swagger — in the 109th-minute after literally being bundled off the pitch and into Southgate by Manuel Akanji.
Perhaps it was the jolt or excuse Southgate needed to call time on his captain’s sluggish performance, made up of just 26, largely ineffective touches.
Kane pressed the Switzerland back three and cut off their passing lanes to Granit Xhaka, and Southgate felt he did “a super job for the team defensively”, while acknowledging he was not at his “flowing” best.
Kane came into the tournament carrying the back injury which had forced him off against Madrid, and he has looked laboured, his touch heavy and his feet leaden, despite scoring in the draw with Denmark and the winner against Slovakia in the last 16.
You can forget about Southgate dropping Kane for the semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday night — it is not happening — but one question for the manager is how long he can afford to wait before turning to the bench if his centre-forward continues to be a passenger in Dortmund?
There was a case that Southgate was brave to withdraw Kane, who has scored 21 penalties for England, when he did, although the counter-argument is that the manager was cowardly to keep him on for so long when he was offering so little. Portugal coach Roberto Martinez plainly felt powerless to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo, and it cost his team the chance to fulfil their potential in Germany.
There is a parallel here with Kane, even if he is nowhere near as wildly egotistical as the Portuguese captain, nor washed up.
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman wasted no time in turning to his Plan B in their quarter-final win over Turkey, introducing Wout Weghorst at half-time, but Southgate was again slow to make changes in Dusseldorf, only using his substitutes once Breel Embolo had put Switzerland in front in the 75th minute.
Could Southgate’s inaction, and reluctance to take off his talisman, eventually hurt England?
Kane would benefit from having more runners beyond him — Luke Shaw starting the semi at left wing-back would help — and his best moment on Saturday was a trademark cross-field pass to England’s standout player and goalscorer, Bukayo Saka.
A front-foot Dutch side, who will line-up in a 4-3-3, should offer England more space, but Southgate is not going to change the system, and with Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham as twin No10s, Kane’s opportunities to drop deep will continue to be limited.
He was well-marshalled by Manchester City’s Akanji, who proved Switzerland’s fall guy in the shootout, and will renew another old acquaintance against Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk in Dortmund.
But as England prepare for a third semi-final in four tournaments under Southgate, having beaten just one of Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland in 90 minutes at this Euros, does it even matter if Kane is playing well?
No member of Southgate’s squad — with the exceptions of Saka and Jordan Pickford, who were the heroes of Saturday’s shootout — is playing particularly well, and Kane might just personify England’s campaign: he has been below-par, and yet delivered when it matters.
Saka’s equaliser was another piece of individual brilliance to follow Bellingham’s bicycle-kick against Slovakia, but England were underwhelming again, at least until penalties.
Southgate’s tweak to his set-up — England used a back-three and wing-backs in possession — initially prompted an improvement, and Saka was outstanding at right wing-back, repeatedly rinsing Michel Aebischer, only for his crosses to find Kane static. But, after the break, England were abject.
What they lack in fluidity and invention, though, Southgate’s side make up for in resilience, character and grit. They have match-winners in the final third and, such is the quality of their penalty-takers, they can probably afford to play for spot-kicks again if Wednesday is another knife-edge contest.
How long can Southgate afford to wait before turning to the bench if Kane continues to be a passenger in Dortmund?
It is time to accept that England are almost certainly not going to ‘click’ against the Dutch, nor in Berlin should they reach Sunday’s final.
If they are to win this tournament, which is now a realistic prospect, England will grind it out, keeping it tight at the back and relying on inspiration in the final third.
Within that context, perhaps it hardly matters if Kane, Bellingham, Foden or any other Englishman is not at their very best this week.
If England are not going to flow, Kane may not need to be “flowing”, just disciplined, industrious and ready to seize another big moment if it comes.
