Harry Kane confident ‘fantastic’ Hugo Lloris will prove no match for England captain against France
England captain Harry Kane has backed himself to score against Tottenham teammate and France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final but revealed that neither will have an advantage when it comes to penalties.
France assistant manager Guy Stéphan has described the battle between Kane and Lloris as a "game within a game" and says the Les Blues captain has an advantage because he knows "how Kane shoots and thinks".
The pair have been Spurs teammates since Kane broke into the north London club’s first-team in 2014.
Kane says he backs himself to score against any goalkeeper but surprisingly revealed he has rarely practised penalties with Lloris at Spurs.
“We have a great relationship, we spend some time together away from football as well with our wives and families," Kane said of Lloris on the eve of the match. “He is a really good guy and one of the best goalkeepers in the world, so for a game like this we are not friends for sure.
“We got to have a good battle against each other and it will be two great teams going at it.
“I have known Hugo a long time and I can’t speak highly enough of him, I will enjoy playing against him tomorrow if we win but I know he will be doing everything to help France win so we will see.
“Hugo is a fantastic leader, he leads by example, is quite calm in pressure situations and knows when his voice needs to be heard and when he needs to be strong with his words in the changing room.
“I have learned a lot through him and his leadership skills during my career, we train a lot together, we have played a lot together.
“I always back myself in any situation against any goalkeeper but I have seen Hugo pull off some fantastic saves but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some chances to put away but I know I will have to be at the top of my game to do that because I’m playing one of the best goalkeepers there is.
“Surprisingly, I haven’t practised too much against Hugo, normally when I practice it would be against the second- or third-choice [Spurs] goalkeeper.
“The starting goalkeeper usually doesn’t join in practice the day before the game which is when I practice the majority.
“I’ve taken them before but loads and loads haven’t been taken [against Lloris]. Against any goalkeeper I have similar situations when I face England goalkeepers, I just stick to my process and routine and go through my training the day before the game and hopefully try and deliver when called upon."
While Lloris is aiming to be the first captain ever to lift the World Cup twice, England want to build on their success in Russia four years ago when they reached the semi-final.
England players celebrate their FIFA World Cup 2002 Round of 16 victory over Senegal
Kane insists there is more belief among the players now than four years ago, particularly after they lost in the final of Euro 2020, and says England are in Qatar to dethrone tomorrow’s opponents.
“I think looking back, in 2018 we didn’t really know what to expect from the group, of course we went there with the belief we could win, it was almost a new experience for a lot of us, we got to the semi-final there and everyone was over the moon, whether we had the full belief we could win the tournament I’m not quite sure," he said.
“We backed that up in the Euros by getting to a final we lost by missing a couple of kicks of the ball, belief has been building for four or five years now and we entered his tournament hoping and knowing we can win it.
“Now it is about pushing on, we face a really tough game tomorrow but I know everyone is ready we are prepared and we will get into that game with more belief than perhaps we did in 2018."
