Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has backed Harry Kane to bounce back for his club after the striker missed a crucial penalty for England in the quarter finals of the World Cup against France.
The sight of a nation's star man blasting a spot-kick over the crossbar when the stakes were at their highest is nothing new to Conte, who was part of the Italy national team when Roberto Baggio skied his effort in the shootout against Brazil at the 1994 World Cup.
That miss had a long-lasting, damaging impact on Baggio, who admitted he could feel himself 'dying inside' when he thought about how the miss would go down back in Italy. Conte has since recalled the moment and compared the situation to the one Kane finds himself in currently.
The former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss has explained how he doesn't feel Kane is in need of any kind of motivational pep talk to try and emotionally recover from his miss, insisting the England captain can manage the process on his own.
"I remember very well the way he lived the moment," Conte explained, referring to Baggio's miss. "This is another example that the best players take the responsibility and when you take the responsibility you can miss.
"I have seen important players like Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero and now Harry miss important penalties. It happened and you have to put it outside your mind and restart. It's not so important to find people to tell you, 'Oh don't worry'.
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"We are strong. When you play at this level, you have to be a strong person. You have to try to address negative events in the right way. Harry is a strong person. I was a strong person when I was a player."
Tottenham travel to Brentford on Boxing Day for their first competitive contest since the World Cup and Conte is confident Kane will be back to his old self in no time.
"Harry for us is the most important player,' added the Spurs boss. "A world-class striker, breaking every record and I expect him to continue to do it.
"He's an important reference point for me, for the players, staff and the fans.
"He has had a good period to rest and he came back strong. He is ready to start again the second part of the season."
Tottenham will be without first-choice shot-stopper Hugo Lloris for the trip to West London, as he has been granted an extended break with France reaching the World Cup final.
It was of course Lloris between the sticks for the two penalties Kane took against Les Bleus, a factor some have suggested played on the striker's mind when analysing the one he missed.
Conte has since discussed that element, adding: "It was really strange to see your keeper and your striker, one against the other in a penalty situation, twice.
"When you are used to living together in the same club, to face each other like this isn't easy. The first penalty was good and Hugo was disappointed. The second, it was really strange but then I said, 'OK, what happened, happened'."
