World Cup 2018: Harry Kane tells England to keep dreaming and not wait another 22 years for a major semi-final
Three Lions skipper came out fighting after World Cup semi-final heartache and says every player is keen to face Belgium
HARRY KANE has told England’s players to keep dreaming — and not wait another 22 years to reach a major semi-final.
The Three Lions skipper came out fighting after the agonising World Cup defeat by Croatia.
Kane declared: “This will give us belief we can do it in the big tournaments.
";The aim now is not to have to wait another 20-odd years to get in another big semi-final.
"We must go again and try to achieve our dreams.
“This has got to be the start of something rather than the end of it.
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“We’re in a great place. We are an inexperienced team, a young team and no one expected us to get this far.
“It has been an amazing experience for all of us. Now all we can do is try to improve. We owe that to ourselves. And I know we will.”
Wednesday’s 2-1 extra-time loss to the Croats was England’s first semi-final in a major tournament since their equally devastating Euro 96 penalty shootout defeat by Germany.
And Kane added: “It hurts now, but we can learn from the experience and take the positives. That is the aim.
“In two years, if we are at the Euros, we will go again.
“When you look at how young our squad is and the fact the manager has only been in charge for two years, it is massive that we have had a good tournament, restored the pride of the nation.
“Fans are excited to watch us again and that is how we have to keep it. The way to do that is to carry on progressing. We just have to learn from nights like this.”
But Kane is still hurting at failing to become the first England team to reach a World Cup final on foreign soil.
The Three Lions led for over an hour on Wednesday night after Kieran Trippier’s fabulous fifth-minute strike.
But Ivan Perisic levelled on 68 minutes, then Mario Mandzukic netted the winner with 11 minutes of extra time left.
Spurs striker Kane added: “We are gutted as it was a great opportunity for us. We felt we had enough in our team.
“There was belief we could go all the way so, of course, we’re upset.
“All we can say is we are proud of each other. We gave it everything.
“I know we can look back and say we could have done this or that.
“But it is a case of small margins and it just did not go our way when it mattered.
“We have come a long way — especially from two years ago.
“To hear the fans singing out there after a defeat is an incredible feeling. All we can do is try and build on that.
“We have built a solid foundation with this manager and it is so important we carry this on and continue to show we can do well in these major tournaments.”
Team-mate Dele Alli tweeted: “I’m devastated we did not manage to progress to the final.
“No feeling has ever compared to this in my career.
“This is going to take a while to get over, but I truly believe this team has a bright future and we will make England proud again.”
Kane, who leads the race for the Golden Boot with six goals, still hopes to play in Saturday's third-place play-off clash with Belgium.
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He added: “It is not a game we wanted to be in. But we will try to finish on a high.
“Everyone will want to play but the manager will make his decision.”
Asked if he will watch Sunday’s final when Croatia meet France, Kane said: “I am not sure. We will play Saturday and then get ready to go home on Sunday.
“We will probably keep an eye on the score but I am not too fussed.”
