Harry Kane only has to think back to the past two tournaments to ease any doubts about not scoring so far at the World Cup, as England prepare to face Senegal in the last 16.
The captain did collect the Golden Boot as the top scorer on the last world stage in Russia with six goals, but they all came in his first three games. There was only frustration in front of goal in the next three, as England finished fourth.
The script was flipped at Euro 2020: No goals in the group stage, then four in the run to the final.
So the Tottenham striker enters the game against African champions Senegal at Al-Bayt Stadium later today encouraged by the displays at the Euros, on reflection, more than those at Russia 2018.
He said: “I started the tournament [Russia 2018] with loads of goals, used a lot of energy and as the tournament went on, I felt like my performances dipped in the latter stages.
“I was conscious before the Euros of trying to make it the other way. Of course, I still wanted to start well, but I was trying to make sure that physically, and mentally, I was in the best place for the knockout stages.”
Now the 29-year-old does feel clear of any ankle problems – after a worry early on in Qatar – and in good shape.
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He said: “I feel as match-fit as I’m ever going to feel. Only time will tell. Hopefully I can do well and come into the best form in these knockout games.
“Form-wise I feel like I have been playing well, goals are what I’m going to be judged on most but as always I’m a calm individual and always try to focus on the team and do my best for the team.”
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Image: Kane with his World Cup Golden Boot trophy
His teammates assumed the scoring burden in the group stage, netting nine goals – the most by an England team by this stage.
And he still set up three goals – the most by an England player at a World Cup since David Beckham 20 years ago.
Senegal are a ‘very dangerous’ team – and know they could win
Senegal are not a side to be underestimated.
The West African nation are the current African Cup of Nations champions, and many of the side play for major European clubs, including 11 in England.
Star player, former Liverpool and now Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane, didn’t make the World Cup because of a knee injury, but the Lions of Teranga still scored goals and encouragingly, for them, from positions all over the pitch.
Gareth Southgate has described them as “a very dangerous team”.
This is only their second World Cup, the previous two in 2002 and 2018, and they have reached the quarter-finals once before in Japan, eventually losing to Turkey.
Watch out for Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and club teammate Kalidou Koulibaly, who captains his country.
And in the absence of the injured Mane, there has been a greater expectation placed on the Watford forward, Ismaila Sarr.
His only goal so far has come via a coolly taken penalty, having won the spot-kick himself, and he has the pace and movement to trouble any opposition.
England will go into the match favourites, but Senegal feel the pressure is off them, and know they have the ability to win the match.
Without doubt, Senegal will be the toughest team England have faced in the tournament so far.
Kane said: “I would love to be sitting here with two or three goals now, for sure, but I think the group stage has gone well.”
He only needs two goals to match Wayne Rooney‘s record 53 goals for England. The priority is, of course, leading The Three Lions into another final – and landing their first trophy since 1966.
England will be favourites going into the match, but manager Gareth Southgate will not be taking Senegal lightly.
“We have been very impressed with Senegal,” he said.
“We know they are African champions and are very proud and have great spirit and belief in their team. They have some excellent individual players who can cause problems, but a good structure as well.
“(Aliou) Cisse has done a fantastic job. They were very unlucky not to qualify from the group in Russia and they have deservedly done it this time. We know the size of the job ahead of us.”
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0:48
Southgate says England are ‘ready for penalties’
Southgate believes England are “mentally and physically” ready for another penalty shootout if the showdown with Senegal goes down to the wire.
The national team’s spot-kick issues are well documented, with all three World Cup shootouts ending in defeat before beating Colombia in the last 16 four years ago in Russia.
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Who are England’s opponents Senegal?
England followed that by winning bronze on spot-kicks at the Nations League finals against Switzerland in 2019, only for penalties to prove their undoing in last year’s European Championship final.
“We’re aiming to win the game and to avoid extra time if you can, and to avoid penalties if you can, because you’d like to get a victory in 90 minutes,” Southgate said.
“But if we need to go 120 minutes, if we need to go beyond that, then we’ve got to be ready for that mentally and physically. And I believe we are.”
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
The comedian has previously denied the accusations, and said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.
Met Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
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The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
Image: These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
Image: The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Image: Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
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The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.