It's cry Harry for England & St George as Spain make it so much pain for Kane

HARRY KANE, for once, had won the ball but could still not contain his frustration, sending his studs on to the ankle of Fabian Ruiz.

- ANDY DUNN

He protested the yellow card (below) but the look on his face suggested he knew, knew it had been the slightly petulant act of someone utterly fed up with not being able to produce his best.

Time and some frank reflection will tell if he had been carrying a physical problem through this tournament but to see him labour on the grandest stage was sad.

And to see Gareth Southgate persevere with a labouring Kane was to see an England coach indulging a big name at the expense of his team's chances of lifting a major trophy. Simple as that.

That Kane (having a shot blocked, right) had more firsthalf touches in his own penalty area than he did in Spain's penalty area told you all you need to know.

A lot has been made of Kane's leadership of this England team and rightly so. He has been an exemplary captain.

But his leadership in Germany has been mainly off the pitch, speaking eloquently on behalf of team-mates who have, despite their achievement in getting to a final, been besieged by criticism.