Cometh the hour, cometh the man

In the end, despite the defensive lapses, England held on to register a 4-2 victory over Croatia in what was an enterprising end-to-end Group L encounter at Dallas Stadium.

It eventually turned out to be an encouraging start for Thomas Tuchel as the German tactician bids to end the Three Lions’ long wait for World Cup glory.

And not surprisingly, for the umpteenth time, one man was at the heart of it all – Harry Edward Kane.

The England captain broke the deadlock from a retaken penalty before grabbing his second on the eve of the first half interval with a sumptuous header from a Declan Rice corner.

In the process, the 32-year old joined two of his English predecessors – David Beckham and Gary Lineker – in exalted World Cup clubs.

Like Beckham, the Bayern Munich forward has now found the back of the net in three World Cup editions, while his brace took him to 10 goals in the greatest show on earth – the joint most for an Englishman alongside Lineker.

Kane’s double took his England tally to 81. He is now the 10th man to score 80 or more international goals, and fifth European after Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Robert Lewandowski and Ferenc Puskas.

However, as has been for quite a long time now, Kane is so much more than goals from dead ball and set piece situations.

Whether dropping deep, exchanging passes with teammates or releasing balls to wingers on the flanks – especially the one from his own half to release Noni Madueke whilst he was falling down – football fans are all too familiar with this selfless nature of Kane.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, the former Tottenham Hotspur striker made a goalline clearance in the dying stages of the game, evoking praise from a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In all fairness, Zlatko Dalic’s side did not look like the vintage Croatian teams of the recent past, while Luka Modric appeared a shadow of his former self.

Even then, known for their tenacity and never-say-die spirit, Croatia still had to be overcome, and Tuchel’s England duly took care of matters, thanks in no small part to Kane’s contribution and inspiration, not to mention leadership skills.

England may have a star-studded starting XI as well as an excellent bench with a lot of attacking depth, it is imperative for the Three Lions that Kane is fit and firing on all cylinders.

Without the Golden Boot winner of the 2018 World Cup, England do not have a cat in a hell’s chance in North America, but with Kane, the Three Lions may just end their long 60-year wait, who knows?