England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's caring gesture to…

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's caring gesture to Harry Kane after he missed World Cup penalty

Jordan Pickford made a caring gesture towards Harry Kane after the England captain missed a penalty against France in the World Cup quarter final match on Saturday.

France went through to the semi-finals after defeating the Three Lions 2-1, leaving England fans and players heartbroken. Harry Kane was inconsolable on the pitch after the final whistle and was surrounded by his England teammates.

Former Sunderland player and Mackem Pickford pleaded with television cameras to stop filming Kane after his penalty miss. The Washington-born goalkeeper, who was standing alongside Kieran Trippier, strode forward and eased camera operators away from Kane, who was being consoled by other players. Pickford continued to reason with the camera operators before pictures from the feed cut away to focus on other players.

England were unable to muster up a response after Kane's late miss. The Three Lions skipper had equalled Wayne Rooney's all-time international goalscoring record with his first spot-kick - but that was scant consolation for the striker, who took "responsibility" for England's World Cup exit, reports The Mirror.

"I'm always someone who prepares, if I get one penalty in a game or two penalties, I always have an idea of what I want to do," Kane told ITV when he was asked about his tandem of penalties. "So yeah, I can't fault my preparation or anything like that, the details, it was just the execution on the night.

"The first one was great, and the second one [I] just didn't quite hit it how I wanted to. That's something I'm going to have to take on the chin and it'll hurt for sure. The whole game will hurt because we had belief in what we were trying to achieve, but as the captain I'll take that. I couldn't be prouder of the boys.

"A World Cup is every four years, it's not like we have another opportunity next year. It is a long time to wait, but like I said I'm proud of the boys. We had a great camp, a great World Cup and like I said, it come down to a small detail that I'll take responsibility for."

Kane was defended by England chief Gareth Southgate after the match, who said: "For me, we win and lose as a team. We conceded two and missed a few chances.

"Harry’s been incredible for us, so reliable in those situations. We wouldn’t be here but for the number of goals he’s scored for us. We were here to win the tournament. We had the belief we could and with the performance tonight against the reigning champions we’ve got a team that could have done it.

"At key moments when you play in a high-level game there will be chances created. In most of the big moments we were in the right place. We had more shots on goal, their keeper made a couple of good saves but it’s a game of fine margins."

Read Next:

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here