Kane heads England to narrow World Cup warm-up win against New Zealand

It was a glorified training game, mainly about acclimatisation for Thomas Tuchel’s England players; unsexy stuff like the right amount of loading, re-connecting with the manager’s principles. But the win was good, too, and it was welcome after the stodge of the March internationals, which had seen the draw against Uruguay and the loss to Japan . With the temperature peaking at 33C and the humidity at about 40%, Tuchel played different teams in each half and both were too good for New Zealand , who will be the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup. Tuchel would have wanted a greater margin of victory, especially after New Zealand’s 4-0 defeat against Haiti on Tuesday. But it was a useful exercise overall and, in the end, one goal was enough. It came from the player who can always be counted upon – in rain or blazing sunshine. Harry Kane took his record tally for England to 79 goals from 113 caps with a snap of the neck muscles and a lovely flicked header in first-half stoppage time, and it is worth dwelling for a moment on the captain’s numbers for the season. In addition to the 61 goals he scored for Bayern Munich from 51 appearances, he now has six in six for his country. The tougher tests, plainly, lie ahead. After the friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday, the countdown will be on for the opening match of the World Cup campaign: against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June. For England, it was a first small step forward of what they hope can be a glorious summer. …