Euro: England captain Harry Kane to wear rainbow armband against Germany

By AFP

LONDON: England captain Harry Kane will wear a rainbow armband in support of the LGBTQ communities during Tuesday’s Euro 2020 last-16 tie against Germany.

It will be the first time Tottenham striker Kane will wear the rainbow armband while playing for England.

Germany skipper Manuel Neuer has worn the rainbow armband in every match his side have played in June in honour of Pride Month.

The goalkeeper first wore the rainbow armband against Latvia on June 7 and then during his country’s three group matches against France, Portugal and Hungary.

UEFA investigated whether it could be viewed as a political statement before concluding there would be no disciplinary proceedings, given Neuer was “promoting a good cause”.

European football’s governing body caused controversy when they denied a request by Munich mayor Dieter Reiter for the Allianz Arena to be lit up in rainbow colours when Germany played Hungary in the group stage on Wednesday.

Kane will hope the armband is a lucky charm as he looks to score his first goal of the tournament.

England have netted only twice in three games and Kane has looked a shadow of the player who finished as the Premier League’s top scorer this season.

Kane was also the Golden Boot winner at the 2018 World Cup, but he insists he isn’t concerned by his unexpected goal drought.

“I’ve always said as a striker you go through spells, good spells and sometimes spells that just don’t quite go your way,” he said.

“The most important thing for me is that we’re winning games. The first objective was to qualify, which we’ve done.

“The second is to now try and reach the quarter-finals so, whether I’m scoring (or not), the most important thing is that we’re winning.

“That’s all I’m focused on tomorrow night, that’s all the team are focused on however we get it done. That’s our main objective, and we’ll do everything in our power to get through.”