Antonio Conte on Tottenham striker Harry Kane's goalscoring return after England disappointment at World Cup 2022: "I have zero doubt about Harry's quality, his mentality, about the way he approaches every game, every training session."
Tuesday 27 December 2022 12:26, UK
Antonio Conte said he had "zero doubts" about Harry Kane's mentality as he put his World Cup disappointment behind him to score in Spurs' draw at Brentford.
Just 15 days since his crucial missed penalty in England's quarter-final defeat to France, Kane popped up with a bullet header to spark Tottenham's second-half comeback in their 2-2 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Kane had been jeered by the home fans for much of the game, and in an unusually quiet performance registered fewer passes and touches than any of Tottenham's outfield starters.
But he still kept up his record of scoring in every Boxing Day game he has played - moving on to 10 festive goals, and ahead of previous Premier League record holder Robbie Fowler.
"I have zero doubt about Harry's quality, his mentality, about the way he approaches every game, every training session," Conte said. "For sure, he is facing a strange situation. He played a really good World Cup, but then missed the decisive penalty in the quarter-final.
"Football is like this - you can have positive or negative moments, but if you are strong mentally, a top player and a player at a high level, and there's a negative moment you have to put to one side, I think Harry has done that.
"Today he was playing for Tottenham, not for England. It's normal, the fans try to create a problem but only because he was playing for Tottenham against Brentford.
"In Italy you don't know what happens! When players are in the national team they might be the best, and then when they start in the league the fans try to disrupt them.
"Only because the player is an opponent who can hurt your team. It's nothing personal."
Tottenham's latest comeback result, their eighth already this season in all competitions, was only possible after conceding the first goal for the ninth match in a row.
Conte looked at the positives and negatives but was left perplexed again by a situation he has never encountered before.
"To concede the first goal or two goals for many games, we have to reflect on that to try to find the solution. For me, it's the first time this type of situation.
"But at the same time, it's the first time to have all these fantastic reactions too. They showed great character, great desire, but we have to try to do this from the start.
"On one side, I have to be happy for the reaction, the way we played in the second half of the game. But not only because we scored two goals, but the energy, desire and intensity we played with. When you play in this way, you create a lot of problems for your opponent.
"On the other hand, this is nine games in a row we have conceded the first goal. That's not positive. We understand we have great character, great reaction, believe in ourselves, but at the same time it's important to be stable for a team that wants to try to stay in a good position in the table."
Kane was not the only striker on the Gtech Community Stadium pitch with something to prove, as Ivan Toney banished his World Cup break woes with a goal in the Boxing Day London derby.
The striker, charged with 262 cases of alleged betting breaches by the FA during the hiatus, put Brentford 2-0 up with a close-range finish from a corner.
Bees boss Thomas Frank hailed the 26-year-old for his professionalism during a testing time.
When asked how Toney manages to put such a disappointment behind him, Frank said: "I wish I knew, then I would bottle it up and sell it for a lot of money and I'd be rich!
"He's very, very special. Character, mentality - it's the ability to focus in the moment and stay focused on the task. A big drive, to badly want to win, his performance today - wow!"
The striker suffered a double disappointment in November after he was left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad for the World Cup, despite being named in the previous squad before the Qatar tournament.
But Toney has bounced back with his 11th goal of the season. The forward is now the first English player to register 30 goal involvements in his first 50 Premier League games since Jamie Vardy in 2015.
"It's not only that [which] he uses as motivation," Frank added. "He has that natural inner drive to push himself and the team-mates around him. He scored 11 goals in the Premier League, which is extremely impressive."
