Speaking to ESPN after France defeated England in the World Cup quarter-final, Frank Leboeuf revealed that Hugo Lloris had told him how bad he felt for his Spurs teammate Harry Kane for his penalty miss.
France took on England on Saturday evening with both sides looking to book a place in the last four of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. After an impressive tournament for both nations, it was almost too tight to call on the night, with the finest of margins deciding the winner.
(Photo by Markus Gilliar – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
It was France who progressed in the end, coming away with a 2-1 win in normal time. An early goal from Aurelien Tchouameni put France in control for the first half, but Tottenham’s Harry Kane levelled the score from the spot after 54 minutes.
AC Milan forward Olivier Giroud put Les Bleus in front again with just over ten minutes to go, but Kane had the chance to equalise from the spot once more in the 84th minute. Sadly, the England captain blazed his penalty over the bar, and it proved to be a costly miss.
Facing his club teammate from 12 yards on two occasions in the game, Hugo Lloris will have seen first-hand just how the situation affected Kane. Here’s what Leboeuf had to say about Lloris’ feelings after the game:
“He said it happens sometimes [practising penalties with Kane] and well, you just pray. It’s even more difficult to guess when you receive a penalty from one of the best players in the world.
“He said ‘even if I can be happy that we won, I feel very sorry for him because he’s a great guy and a friend of mine’. He feels very sad for him.”
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It must be such a bittersweet moment for Hugo Lloris, to progress with his country but at the expense of his good friend Harry Kane. He will of course have wanted Kane to miss, but will hope that his teammate is not suffering too much from the experience.
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