Supp. Twelve 'England pounce on Panama'

The pursuit for the tournaments golden boot has struck red hot after Spurs forward Harry Kane notched a hat trick for England in their second round match against minnows Panama. Kane completed the hat trick in perhaps the most fortuitous way, bringing up a trio of goals when Ruben Loftus-Cheek bet his man and drove at goal from some distance, only for the ball to take a path altering deflection off of Kane’s unaware left foot. Kane has spoken in the past of his love for stat-padding, and will not mind the somewhat uninspiring way his three strikes came - two extremely well taken penalties showed his goal scoring prowess and with the goals his tally increased to 18 goals in just 26 international bows. The forward now has 129 goals across all competitions at just 24, and this could very well be remembered as ‘Harry Kane’s World Cup’, much like Euro 96’ is reflected on as Alan Shearer’s goal scoring phenomena.

England were electric under the pressure of the 30 degree heat in’ Nizhny Novgorod for most of the affair. Gareth Southgate continued entrusting youth and employed his 5-3-2, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, just 22, coming in for the injured Dele Alli. The side lined up unchanged in all other areas with Raheem Sterling retaining his place in the side despite rumblings that Marcu Rashford could replace him.

The Panamanian sides intentions were evident from minute one, sitting in and inviting England to dominate possession and break them down through attrition. The Central American outfit were more than willing to put a foot in and at times it looked as if they were partaking in a wrestling match. John Stones made it 1-0 early on after going unmarked from a corner to blast a header past the Panama Goalkeeper - the Panama defending party were more occupied with pushing and shoving England’s players than actually defending a corner, and it cost them; some of the worst defending I have seen in a major tournament was on show and the English were exploiting it from the early stages. Just minutes after Stones’ opener Jesse Lingard met the end of a long ball in the box and was brought down by Panama’s skipper Torres and defender Escobar. The ensuing circus was baffling, with Panama’s entire side swamping the Egyptian referee Gehad Grisha - somehow none were booked for dissent. But, even after over a minute of waiting, Harry Kane kept his cool and dispatched the penalty convincingly. England were well on their way within the first 22 minutes despite a few ventures forward from the opposition bringing chances - the weight of traffic lent heavily in favour of the Three Lions.

After 15 minutes of further dominance Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard drove from midfield after a tidy one-two with Raheem Sterling and made it three with a delightful effort into the upper reaches of the goal - a finish not to dissimilar to his expanse of strikes for United during the season. In a period of complete dominance, England took a move straight from the training ground when Trippier laid the ball off to Jordan Henderson who hit back post where the ball was turned back in across the six yard box - Sterlings close range header was saved but the ensuing deflection sent it into the path of John Stones who brought his second goal in an England shirt. England were rampant, and another penalty was awarded when Harry Kane was brought down, wrestled by Panama’s Godoy defending a corner - he scored promptly and looked as confident as ever. Then came his hat trick - Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s long range effort deflected off Kane’s foot: as previously mentioned, an extremely fortuitous goal for the forward which would prove the last of the game for England as they gained six. The remaining 35 minutes of football slowed as the high temperatures in Novgorod took their toll on both sides, and the last few minutes were lethargic at best. Panama clawed a goal back when in the 78th minute substitute Baloy finished brilliantly and the travelling fans erupted, giving the Panama group reason to smile amongst a potentially humiliating loss.

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England play Belgium on Friday and the game will decide who finishes on top of the group, with both sides looking exciting going in to the game. It will be the first true test for both sides in months - whoever delivers will promise to go deep in the tournament.

Elsewhere Japan drew 2-2 with Senegal after Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the Africans. Japan equalised through Inui and the game went for a long period poised at 1-1. Both Japan and Senegal sit on top of the group on 4 points - Colombia will look to progress after beating and eliminating a disappointing Polish side. Veteran Falcao, Barcelona’s Mina and Juan Cuadrado scored in a resounding 3-0 win for the Colombian’s. The group is shaping up for an interesting end.