Captain Harry Kane believes England’s 1-0 defeat to Iceland at Wembley on Friday “could be a beneficial wake-up call” ahead of Euro 2024.
England, considered one of the tournament favorites, were booed off the field following a lackluster performance in their final warm-up match.
Kane, who netted 36 Bundesliga goals in his debut season with Bayern Munich, emphasized that there is much to improve before the Euros commence in Germany on Friday.
“Of course there will be some noise about it [losing to Iceland] but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so,” added the 30-year-old. “Ultimately it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch.
“This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think. There is a lot of work to do.”
Kane noted that England, featuring Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon, were unfortunate not to score several times during the match against Iceland.
“I think there are some things we have to improve, for sure,” he added.
“It was one of those games. On another day we had three or four clear-cut chances – myself, Cole, Ant had a good chance – so we could have walked off at 3-1 or 4-1 and we would all be going into the Euros very happy.”
England begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, 16 June, in Gelsenkirchen.