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Arsenal legend Ian Wright has claimed that France center-back Dayot Upamecano feared England skipper Harry Kane in their FIFA World Cup quarter-final clash on Saturday (10 December).
France and England went toe-to-toe in what was the most highly-anticipated fixture of the quarter-finals on Saturday. The defending world champions were under the cosh for most of the match but ultimately walked off with a 2-1 victory, setting up a semi-final clash with Morocco. Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud scored for the champions while Kane scored one penalty and missed another for England.
In the 26th minute, Kane, following a challenge from Bayern Munich defender Upamecano, went to ground inside the French penalty box. He was initially pulled back by the defender before the pair came together on the line. The referee did not award a penalty to Gareth Southgate’s side and VAR concurred. Wright was disappointed with the officiating and thought it was a clear foul on Kane.
On ITV Sport, Wright said:
“He’s [Upamecano] afraid of Harry Kane, that’s the thing. He’s on the wrong side of Harry already. He’s had a dig there and I can’t see (how it’s not a foul), they say it’s outside of the box. I am very surprised.
“The only thing you can say is that they thought it was outside of the box and they (VAR) have then not given the foul.”
Kane, who skied the opportunity to restore parity for England from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute, had a subdued tournament in front of goal. The 2018 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner only scored twice in five appearances for England in Qatar.
England outplayed France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
The final whistle signaled a 2-1 win for Les Bleues, but they hardly had it easy against the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners. England performed admirably against the champions, creating one chance after another and drawing a series of impressive saves from France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final clash, England had 16 shots, with eight of them landing on target. France, on the other hand, scored twice from their five attempts on target (eight total). England also completed more passes (503 vs 377), had more possession (57% vs 43 %), created more big chances (three vs two), and even hit the woodwork once.
Had Southgate’s men been a tad sharper in front of goal, they probably would have walked away with a famous quarter-final win over the 2018 FIFA World Cup winners.
