Harry Kane has criticised referee Danny Makkelie following England’s 2-1 Nations League loss to Spain at Wembley on Saturday, saying that the Dutch official lacked the “bottle” to allow a late equaliser to stand.
The Three Lions took the lead through Marcus Rashford but strikes from Saul and Rodrigo turned the tables by the break. Danny Welbeck thought he had snatched a share of the points at the death, but the effort was controversially ruled out for offside.
It was a call that left captain Kane furious, with the Tottenham ace hitting out at the official.
Asked by Sky Sports if Welbeck’s tap in should have stood, he replied: “100 per cent, in the big moments you need the referee to stay strong but unfortunately he has bottled it. In the big moments you need a firm referee who doesn't get decisions wrong under pressure.
"Danny Welbeck stood there, David de Gea went up, he caught the ball but as he went down he fell on Danny, no foul or anything, and the ball dropped.”
However, the England captain felt the team’s performance was one that they could be proud of.
"It was a good game, a good test against a team that keeps the ball well,” he said. “It was difficult but we had good spells in the game and we probably created the better chances.
“We tried to press and play with high intensity. There's a lot of stuff we can learn from but I think we can hold our heads up high.”
After losing against Croatia and Belgium at the World Cup, then against Spain, England have lost their last three internationals, the first time they have endured such a run since 1988.
It was also their first competitive defeat at home since going down to Croatia in 2007.
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