London (AFP)

To chase away the many ghosts of its past in major meetings, England has the man for the job with its captain Harry Kane, able to offer him against Croatia on Sunday (3:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. GMT) at the opening of "his "Euro a victory which would be unprecedented.

At 27, Kane is "Captain England", the indisputable captain of England, the spearhead of an attack which perhaps has no equivalent in this tournament, with the exception of France. .

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One can imagine the difficulty of coach Gareth Southgate's task when it comes to choosing the names to come out of the starting XI among Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish or the revelation Phil Foden.

Kane's is the first to be placed on his sheet, as the elegant striker, top scorer (23) and decisive passer (14) in the English Championship this season despite Tottenham's sawtooth course, has not of equal.

With 34 goals and 13 assists in 54 selections, his athletic (1.88 m) and technical presence at the heart of the attack line reassures and gives guarantees to a team that will play harry goal

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his three group matches and, if applicable, his round of 16 - on condition of finishing first in Group D -, his half and the final in his temple at Wembley.

- Force one's nature -

England have still not digested the trauma of Euro-1996 played at home: the "Three Lions" of Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer had fallen in the semi-final on penalties against Germany.

Nor that of Euro-2016 where England was surprised in the round of 16 by Iceland (2-1).

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Among the specters, there is also that of the first failed matches: England has never won its first match at the Euro in nine attempts (5 draws, 4 defeats)!

Not to mention the ghosts of players who have withdrawn or not in their best form, particularly Harry Maguire in central defense or Jordan Henderson in the middle.

Which will force Harry Kane - struggling with his own ... personal ghost over his uncertain club future - to force his nature as a good young man in every way if he wants to make them forget.

"The only thing I would blame Kane for is a big negative ... is that I don't think he's a good leader," Roy Keane recently told Skybet.

- "I would like to see him shake someone" -

"I've never seen him rebuff anyone with Spurs. I know people are going to tell me + It's not his personality + or + He maybe does it in the locker room. + But I don't think so not that he does and that's a big problem, "continued the rugged former Irish midfielder from Manchester United.

"OK, you can set an example through play. But sometimes I would like to see another side of Kane, I would like to see him shake someone up," concluded Keane, who had no problem shaking opponents. or team members in his time.

In this remake of the semi-final lost in overtime (2-1) at the Russian World Cup - still a ghost to chase - it will be necessary to demonstrate the progress of the three years that have passed since.

Croatia, behind an aging Luka Modric (35 years old) but still essential in selection as at Real Madrid, is in a transition phase.

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She will be able to count on experienced players who know England well, such as Mateo Kovacic (27), titled in the Champions League with Chelsea, or Dejan Lovren, who had been with Liverpool in 2019.

Suffice to say that even if the coach Zlatko Dalic tried to calm national hopes for this competition, the "Valtreni" would be well inflicted a 10th failed entry to the "Three Lions".

© 2021 AFP