Kane, Rice Bellingham... three lost and leaders who turned int Three Lions

GARETH SOUTHGATE and England love a leadership group but for over an hour and a half of an utterly dreadful performance, the group was missing.

- ANDY DUNN

And three prominent members Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham were nowhere to be seen. Or as good as nowhere to be seen.

If you did catch a glimpse, they looked ponderous, nervous and clueless.

But even in the most dire of sporting situations, leaders have deep wells of resolve, deep wells of defiance, deep wells of determination.

And, more importantly, they have a muscle memory that lifts them above the run-of-the-mill player.

How else can you explain Bellingham's extraordinary equaliser deep into injury-time? How else can you explain Kane's predatory winner early in extra-time?

Let's be honest, Kane had been terrible in regulation time. If, as he claims, he really is fully fit and his back is not giving him any grief, it is hard to explain why he has developed the turning circle of an oil tanker. For large parts of England's campaign, Kane's movement has been laboured, to say the least. For large parts of England's campaign, it has been excruciating to watch him.