SOCCER
Why isn’t Harry Kane playing in England’s friendly against Brazil today?
England will be without Bayern Munich star Kane, the Three Lions’ all-time highest scorer, for this weekend’s high-profile friendly at Wembley.
Harry Kane will play no part in England’s friendly against Brazil today, having failed to recover from an ankle injury. Indeed, the Bayern Munich striker may not feature at all in this month’s international window.
Kane, who has a history of ankle issues, suffered the injury in Bayern’s 5-2 Bundesliga win over Darmstadt last Saturday. The following day, the German champions said the 30-year-old would still be able to join up with the England squad, explaining: “[He] will treated by the team doctors there, in close consultation with the FC Bayern medical department”.
England - Brazil: Follow the live action here!
Kane out against Brazil, “extremely doubtful” for Belgium game
Speaking to the media on Friday, however, England manager Gareth Southgate revealed that Kane won’t be back in time to face the Brazilians - and added that the Three Lions’ record goalscorer may also miss Tuesday’s friendly with Belgium.
“Tomorrow [there’ll be] no Harry Kane, no Jordan Henderson, no Cole Palmer,” Southgate told reporters. “I would say Cole and ‘Hendo’ have a better chance of [playing against] Belgium than Harry. He’d be extremely doubtful for that.”
Kane absence gives Watkins, Toney chance to shine
With Kane unavailable, Southgate says this weekend’s high-profile friendly against the five-time world champions now offers other strikers an excellent chance to further their claim to be the team captain’s first-choice understudy at this summer’s European Championship.
“It’s a brilliant opportunity for other players,” Southgate said. “We need to see other players ahead of the Euros. And if we were playing lesser teams, you’d still have that little question in your mind if they played well: ‘OK, well, how are they going to be against the next level of opposition?’ From our perspective, it’s a great exercise and a great opportunity.”
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Brentford’s Ivan Toney are the two other dedicated centre-forwards in England’s squad for the games against Brazil and Belgium.
See also:
England vs Brazil: kick-off time, how to watch
England host Brazil today, Saturday 23 March 2024, with kick-off at Wembley Stadium scheduled for 7pm local time. In the United States, that’s 3pm ET/12 noon PT. Viewers in the US will be able to watch the game on Fox Network and ViX.
When is England’s Euro 2024 squad announced?
Southgate is expected to announce his provisional Euro 2024 squad on Tuesday 21 May, before England play two pre-tournament friendlies, against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday 3 June and against Iceland on Tuesday 7 June. Southgate then has until the day after the second game, Wednesday 8 June, to confirm his 23-man squad for the finals in Germany.
Drawn in Group C with Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia, England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against the Serbians on 16 June.