“It was a massacre,” grinned Harry Kane after he and Kieran Trippier had proved to be masters of a version of ‘foot volleyball’ – where players head or volley the ball to keep it inside a tight area. It is like the game ‘Teqball’, which has proved popular in training grounds, but without the table.
The seasoned pros of Kane and Trippier – clearly close friends – were wily enough to see off firstly Kyle Walker and John Stones (who are also close) and then Ezri Konsa and Bukayo Saka. Finally, they also proved too much for Ollie Watkins and Eberechi Eze who quickly fell 4-0 down in their match but rallied to bring it back to 4-3.
Faced with the prospect of a humiliating comeback, there was then, quite obviously, a bit of lighthearted gamesmanship from the Kane/Trippier partnership who took their time (timewasted?) as they ran down the clock before Steve Holland, Southgate’s assistant, blew his whistle. Southgate was the umpire at this end of the pitch. “Sometimes you have to manipulate the ref,” Trippier said, and he and Kane certainly knew how to get into Southgate’s ear when it came to some tight calls – much to Walker and Konsa’s frustrations, in particular.