Alan Shearer lauded Harry Kane for scoring his first goals in a major tournament after his brace helped England get their World Cup off to a winning start against Tunisia.
Shearer, who scored when England beat Tunisia 2-0 in the 1998 World Cup, knows just how important it is for a striker to get off the mark so early in a tournament.
Kane opened the scoring in the 11th minute which a poacherās finish before securing the win with a back post header to claim all three points for England.
Shearer believed Kane would have been desperate to get involved in the tournament after watching a number of the gameās biggest stars get amongst the goals.
āI canāt stress enough the importance (of those goals),ā Shearer said on BBC1ās World Cup Match of the Day.
āHeād have sat for the last week watching Ronaldo, Griezmann and Pogba scoring goals knowing we would be talking about him and tournament football.
āThe manager gave him the captainās armband for one reason, heās the go-to player when someone has to make a difference.
āIt will give him huge confidence to get off the mark with your first goal, bring the games on.
āThatās why Gareth Southgate named him captain. When the manager is looking for someone to do something, you want the captain to do something.
āThey kept going and nobody can say they didnāt deserve the win.
āIt would have been so difficult for them if they didnāt get the win.ā
The win put England level on three points with Belgium who beat Panama 3-0 earlier in the day.
Having named his squad early, there was pressure on manager Southgate to get off to a winning start.
And Shearer felt the performance will give Southgate and his players confidence going forward.
āItās a great night for Gareth,ā Shearer said.
āHe was under huge pressure and he will look at his own performance.
āHe named his squad very early and the players knew the system, now could they go about getting the result?
āWe wanted England to give us a bit of hope and a performance that had energy and chances so there are plenty of positives.ā
Frank Lampard was relieved to see England get off to a winning start, but wished the margin had been greater.
āOnly for the chances we missed in the first half, we would have won this game before half-time,ā Lampard said.
āThe first game is the one to win and I fully expect us to beat Panama.
āThe crucial thing is taking the chances in this tournament.
āWhen you win you can put them (missed chances) to bed.
āThe performance overrides that and maybe weāll be more settled in the next game.ā
Rio Ferdinand singled out Harry Maguire for his assured performance at both ends of the pitch.
ā(Harry) showed personality. He made a few mistakes but he came through that,ā Ferdinand said.
āThatās why heās in the team and Gary Cahill isnāt.
āItās about players who have the ability to bring the ball out, drag players towards them and play behind them.
āHe released himself to get into attacking places.ā
Gary Neville: part of the problem at eight of the last nine tournaments
Gary Neville believes beating Tunisia allows England to be more relaxed going into their second game with Panama.
Neville said on ITV Sport: āWith five minutes to go I was worried thinking deja vu, thinking getting on that plane tonight those young players with only two who have started in a World Cup, waking up in the morning to what wouldnāt have been negative media, but an anxiety and nervousness.
āThinking about the post-match video, thinking about the fact they have to play against Panama in a game they must win. And then the pressure builds.ā
Neville admits the England squads in the past where he has been a player and a coach, have not been able to be trusted in major tournaments.
He said: āYou cannot trust us. Weāve let ourselves down and Iāve been part of the problem in eight of the last nine tournaments. You cannot trust us to recover from a bad result in the opening game. Itās happened too many times.ā