Harry Kane has admitted he is still not fully over England's Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain but has vowed to use the disappointment as a “fire in the belly” to win the 2026 World Cup.
The Three Lions suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Euro final earlier this summer as Nico Williams and substitute Mikel Oyarzabal gave Spain a 2-1 win in Berlin.
Manager Gareth Southgate resigned shortly afterwards and England begin a new era under caretaker manager Lee Carsley with a UEFA Nations League clash against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
And Kane said: “I think we did very well to get to the final. I think it wasn't an easy tournament. I don't think we reached the level we know we can reach in many games.”
“But the positive thing about all this is that we got to the final. When it ends like this, with a defeat, everyone leaves quickly and you go back to your own life. You try to rest, but before you know it, you're back for the new season.
“You don't get over it completely, but I think you move on and look at areas you can improve from a personal point of view and try to implement that into the new season.
“As a team, we can take a lot of positives from the summer, especially from the last four years. But ultimately it's about improvement and there are areas where we can improve, especially in the games when we look back on the summer.
“That's our job now as players: to try to improve. These games and the upcoming camps are a great opportunity to do that.”
“Every defeat is different in its own way. It's tough. When you're so close to reaching one of the peaks of your international career and it's snatched away from you like that, it's really difficult. But in the end, life goes on, you have to move on, you have to get up and move on again.
“From my point of view, it motivates me even more, it gives me strength to try to go back there again or to the World Cup and have a different result this time.”
Carsley will begin his new role facing the country he was capped for 40 times as a player, just one of many links between the sides as Jack Grealish and Declan Rice both switched allegiances from Ireland to England early in their careers.
Asked if he had any concerns about both players starting at the Aviva Stadium, Carsley said: “No, not at all. We spoke not just to Jack and Declan but to the whole team about the atmosphere.”
“We expect it to be exciting, thrilling, noisy. It won't be any different to what the players are used to seeing in Premier League games or in top-level games. I think they'll be ready for whatever comes next.”
“I'm not sure [what reception I’ll get] To be honest, probably the same. But if we go by the reception we had from the kids outside, it will be very positive.”
Carsley also said Mason Greenwood was “not under consideration” when selecting his first England squad.
Greenwood has scored five goals in three games for Marseille since leaving Manchester United in a 31.6 million euro deal two months ago.
Greenwood had not played for United since his arrest in January 2022, after which he was charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault, but denied wrongdoing.
In February 2023, all charges against him were dropped after key witnesses withdrew their involvement and new evidence came to light.
Greenwood's only appearance for England came against Iceland in September 2020, during a training camp in which he was sent home early (along with Phil Foden) for breaching Covid-19 guidelines.
ESPN reported last month that Greenwood was in the process of switching his international allegiance from England to Jamaica.
“Mason was not a player we considered honest,” Carsley added. “I'm aware of how he's doing.” [at Marseille] but it was not under consideration.”
