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Harry Kane talks a lot. But, to be frank, he often doesn’t say much. The England captain always seems willing to make himself available to the media, but more often than not answers questions in what we’ll kindly call a “straightforward” manner. A less kind description would be that 90 per cent of his public speech is in platitudes or cliches, a sort of automated bland quotes machine, rarely betraying emotion, usually remaining calm and straight down the line.
It was different after England beat Germany in their second round game of Euro 2020. “Yeah…” he said at the start of his post-match interview, before trailing off, looking around Wembley, taking in the atmosphere and seeming almost on the verge of tears. “I’m speechless — I don’t know what to say,” he continued, before pausing. Then you could spot the moment when the Kanebot circuit in his brain reconnected and he conducted the rest of the interview as normal.