Same Old Story: England Crumbles to Argentina After Kane Calls Out Passivity

Anthony Gordon put England up 1-0 in the 55th minute. Standard stuff. Then the wheels came off. Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez, sensing blood, struck within seven minutes. Martinez's winner came in stoppage time. Just brutal. Argentina, naturally, are off to the final. Spain awaits them on 19 July.

Kane, bless his heart, admitted the whole 'sit back and pray' strategy after going 1-0 up was a monumental screw-up. "Once we went 1-0 up we seemed to just try and hold on which at this level is just not enough," he told Sky Sports. Blunt. Honest. Hard to argue with.

He saw the writing on the wall.

Despite Thomas Tuchel's staff barking orders to keep pushing, England started wilting under Argentina's pressure. You could feel it happening. "After the goal, whether they were putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man-to-man, it was just wave after wave," Kane recounted. It was a siege. A self-inflicted one.

Tuchel, surprisingly, echoed the captain’s sentiments, calling his side "too passive" after Gordon’s opener. He did, however, try to salvage some dignity. Defending his tactical choices. No offensive subs, he argued, because the real problem wasn't the setup. It was the players' mindset. "We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive," he explained. So, not his fault, then? Right.

Kane finished by saying England are "close" to a major tournament win. Close, but no cigar. Again. He talks about finding "that missing piece." This squad, he insisted, gave their all for seven weeks. Maybe so. Still, 'their all' wasn't enough when it truly mattered. Not at the semi-final hurdle. This much we know for sure.