HARRY KANE has been hailed by Sir Gareth Southgate for the changes to his penalty routine since his fateful miss at the last World Cup.
, 55, guided England to the 2018 semi-finals in Russia and the quarter-finals in Qatar four years later.
Harry Kane racked up a 97 per cent penalty success rate after missing his spot-kick for England against FranceCredit: The FA via Getty Images
Ex-England boss Gareth Southgate revealed how Kane changed his penalty gameCredit: Getty Images
had already scored from 12 yards in the 54th minute of their match with France in Doha — to equal Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 Three Lions goals.
But he skied an 83rd-minute chance to level it up again at 2-2 — an error that still “haunts” him.
Southgate understands as much as anyone the anguish his captain felt — his own shootout miss meaning lost to Germany at Wembley in the Euro 96 semi-final.
Yet the former Three Lions boss admires how Kane, 32, went away and worked on his penalties — to the extent the striker has missed just one since.
His next spot-kick for his country — during a 2-1 win over in Naples — saw him become England’s leading all-time goalscorer.
Speaking ahead of the publication of his new book — Dear England: Lessons on Leadership — Southgate said: “If you read the interviews with Harry Kane, there was an insight into the motivation of an elite player.
“One, the intrinsic desire for mastery. Two, the curiosity and willingness to learn.
“Harry has for several years been one of the world’s best penalty takers — a success rate around 85 per cent.
“He would decide where he was going to place his penalty in the days before a game and would practice the execution in deliberate fashion in training.
“Until he missed the second penalty in our 2022 quarter-final against , everyone thought he had mastered the art. After such a huge disappointment — ‘the worst I had felt in any moment’ as he described it — my role, as his manager, was to support and mentor Harry.
“Having had some history in this situation, it may have helped give him perspective. But any coaching conversation requires the player to go away and determine their response. When we were next together, Harry had taken action.
“Rather than rely on his tried-and-tested process, he told me he had been studying and practising a ‘goalkeeper dependent’ technique.
“Basically waiting for the keeper to commit first before placing his shot accordingly.
“He was now ready to apply either of his techniques, leaving the goalkeeper with even less chance of ‘second guessing’.
“When England were awarded a penalty against Italy in Naples in our next fixture, I’ve never been so certain someone would score.
‘Lesson in self mastery’
“What I couldn’t have predicted was that he would miss just one out of the next 38 penalties he took — a success rate of 97 per cent. An individual lesson in self mastery that anyone can learn from.”
Southgate has not returned to management since leaving the England post in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain in Berlin.
But the ex-Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough star remains passionate about how players can achieve excellence.
He said: “The very best players are intrinsically motivated. To sustain success at the very top level, whether in sport, business or life, it’s about maintaining a consistency of excellent habits.
“What you do when there’s no crowd watching or the benefits aren’t immediate.
“In football, it’s the unsung hours on the training pitch, in the gym or recovering after sessions that define the ultimate performance.”
Kane studied and practised a ‘goalkeeper dependent’ techniqueCredit: The FA via Getty Images
Southgate revealed that Kane managed to combine his new and old techniqueCredit: AFP via Getty Images 
