Harry Kane stepped up to take his shot at the second-half penalty in Qatar during the England vs. France game last night (10 December).
But the 29-year-old uncharacteristically overshot the ball during the second penalty in the 84th minute, leading to England’s defeat.
And it seems as if the footballer, who has levelled out with Wayne Rooney’s track record thanks to scoring his first penalty in the match, may have foreshadowed the unfortunate end to England’s World Cup efforts with an old comedy sketch. Check it out here:
The Sports Relief sketch was filmed back in 2018 and showed the striker being trained on ‘how to win a World Cup’ by England rugby legend Jonny Wilkinson - who iconically won the rugby World Cup for his team with an extra-time drop goal in the 2003 final match against Australia.
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Alongside comedian John Bishop, the former half-fly encourages Kane to deliver the winning score under pressure before showing him his technique for shooting penalties, where he hit it directly across the bar for three points, instead of into the goal.
During the clip, Kane manages to shoot a perfect penalty into the goal but fails to impress the rugby star, who argues: "No, no... you've got it all wrong," before showing him how he believes it should be done.
Kane replies: "But it went in though," before Wilkinson lines the ball up on a kicking tee and kicks the ball across the crossbar.
Wilkinson says in a very pleased tone: “That’s how you do it,” before a confused Kane responds: "You just put it over by a mile."
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“Yes, but that’s how I won a World Cup with England,” Wilkinson argues.
Knowing he’s not going to make the rugby star happy until he tries Wilkinson’s technique, Kane follows his instructions and bolts the ball over the bar - and this is where the foreshadowing appears to happen.
"Much better, Harry. That's the one,” Wilkinson exclaims.
So, we basically have Jonny Wilkinson to blame for Kane’s fate last night.
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The media in France have even taken it upon themselves to share the video to mock the footballer who missed the all-important penalty last night.
The rugby outlet Rugbyrama shared the clip on Sunday and thanked Wilkinson for his advice in light of the event.
"Last night Harry Kane recalled a past session with Sir Jonny Wilkinson," they wrote on Twitter. "To the delight of the French!"
Former French rugby player Jean-Baptiste Gobelet also joined the pile-on, writing: "Thanks @JonnyWilkinson for this masterclass kicking. Love my England friend."
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Elsewhere, Kane accepted responsibility for the miss, which he claims had nothing to do with the fact it was a second penalty.
“I’m someone who prepares to take one or two penalties in the same game,” he told ITV.
"So I can’t blame my preparation. I felt as confident in the second as in the first, but it was 100 percent the execution. It’s my fault.
“Obviously it hurts now and it will hurt for a while, but it’s part of being the captain and leader of the team. You have to take responsibility and I take it today.”
Featured Image Credit: Sport ReliefTopics: Football, World Cup, Harry Kane