Kane and Gordon after the defeat to Spain: we repeated what happened at the World Cup!
They strongly praised the world champions
England's players acknowledged Spain's strength following their 3-2 defeat at Wembley in the opening round of the UEFA Nations League, but they stressed the gap between the two sides was small, and that the Three Lions had squandered the chance to come away with a different result.
Captain Harry Kane said: "I mentioned earlier that we produced a good performance at the World Cup, but we couldn't sustain it for the full ninety minutes. Perhaps something similar happened to us today."
He added: "We played against the world champions and the European champions, and we put in a good performance. On another day, we would definitely have won. We have to take the positives, recover, and try again in a few days."
Kane also fielded a question about whether this week's ruling in the Manchester City case, involving 115 charges of financial breaches, had distracted the national team's players. "There was some discussion about this, but we train with the national team, and that was a big advantage for us. We put club football to one side, and this week was no exception."
Anthony Gordon described the defeat as a "missed opportunity", pointing out that mistakes against a team of Spain's calibre are costly.
"It was a great game, and some of the attacking play was of a high standard, but in a match like this, mistakes are very costly," he said. "You always get the feeling that you're the one giving the win away, rather than them winning it."
Turning to the penalty Kane missed, Gordon reckoned scoring it would have handed England the platform to settle the match. "That puts us in an excellent position. Penalties happen, and he rarely misses them, so we'll forgive him."
The winger insisted the two sides were evenly matched. "I don't think there's a difference. I feel we're equal. If the penalty had been scored, we could have won."
Even so, Gordon acknowledged the Spanish side's quality. "They're the best in the world for a good reason. When it became 3-2, you could see their ability to control the ball."
He also addressed being substituted during the match. "It always disappoints me, but tonight I felt it was perhaps the right decision because I was a little tired."
Defender Jarell Quansah praised the opposition too. "They're the world champions, the best team in the world, and we put in a strong match. We hope to learn from this experience and achieve a positive result in our upcoming match against them."
