Kanes

United States President Donald Trump has joined criticism of England’s tactics in their World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina, by questioning Harry Kane’s second-half “defensive” role.

Manager Thomas Tuchel’s second-half substitutions have been criticised by pundits and supporters following the 2-1 defeat, as Argentina scored two late goals to set up Sunday’s final against Spain (20:00 BST).

BBC Sport reported on Thursday how a number of key players had been left disappointed at how England were instructed to finish the game having taken the lead through Anthony Gordon.

Tuchel reverted to a back five and made a number of defensive-minded substitutions in the closing stages as Lionel Messi inspired a dramatic comeback.

“You have a great player in England who I’ve played golf with. And he is Harry [Kane] who has been fantastic,” said Trump.

“I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player. What do I know about soccer? They took the lead, and they took their best player and put him on defence.

“We got to be a little offensive, right. But no, I’m not going to call it, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual.”

Tuchel was quick to brush off Trump’s criticisms when mentioned to him in a news conference later.

Speaking at Trump Tower during a reception on Friday, the president also spoke about the moment he asked Fifa to review USA striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension.

Balogun, 25, was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.

But Fifa made the shock decision to suspend the automatic one-match ban for 12 months, leading to widespread criticism.

Trump said: “This has been a tournament like no other. Filled with fierce competition, unforgettable moments. Probably the most unforgettable is when they gave that gentleman… is it a red card?

“And I was forced to call Gianni [Infantino]. I said ‘Gianni, I’d like to make a recommendation. Let the guy in the game!’ No, I didn’t say that. I said I’d like to wage a complaint.

“And actually I had no idea what was going to happen, but you know it is so much better the way it worked out because there is no controversy. [Belgium] won the game and our team had all of its players. You made another great decision if you think about it, but you’ll never get credit for it.”

Trump also thanked Fifa president Infantino and described the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada as “the most successful sporting event, maybe in the history of the world”.

Infantino said the World Cup had “exceeded expectations”.

“The American dream, Mr President, came to reality. We united the world in America,” he said.

“This is not just the greatest World Cup of all times, it is the greatest human, social and cultural event that mankind has ever witnessed and we are all part of it and for this I thank you very much, Mr President.”

Harry Kane’s final task of the finest season of a magnificent career is to attend to unfinished business as England’s World Cup captain.

Kane is England’s ‘Mr Irreplaceable’ – as proved when Thomas Tuchel’s side were ominously toothless when drawing with Uruguay then losing to Japan in March friendlies at Wembley.

The 32-year-old’s fitness will be Tuchel’s biggest concern as they prepare to start their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, not simply because of his status as England’s all-time record scorer with 78 goals in 112 games, but also because they have no-one remotely in Kane’s class.

If Kane stays fit, and in the remarkable form that brought him 64 goals in 56 games for Bayern Munich this season, England’s hopes will soar.

If not, the reverse applies.

As former England striker Chris Sutton told BBC Sport: “Harry Kane is so important that if he announced his international retirement this afternoon, everyone would instantly view England’s World Cup chances in a different, more pessimistic light.”

Silverware has come late in Kane’s career after barren years at Tottenham Hotspur, when even his stunning goalscoring numbers could not bring glory.

He is now making up for lost time by winning a second successive Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, then scoring a hat-trick as they beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the German Cup final.

And Kane now has his sights set on delivering the biggest prize of all as he leads England on their latest quest to end the search for men’s success stretching back to the 1966 World Cup win.

England’s countdown to their opening World Cup game continues when they play New Zealand in a friendly at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday (21:00 BST).

Kane has suffered the disappointment of losing successive European Championship finals with England to Italy and Spain, as well as a World Cup semi-final defeat by Croatia in 2018 and a quarter-final loss to France in Qatar.

Now Kane’s stellar form and fitness suggest the time might be right for England and their talisman to overcome the barrier that has brought 60 years of pain.