Referee bottled it in England's 1-2 loss to Spain, says Kane

England captain Harry Kane chats with the referee during the UEFA Nations League encounter against Spain at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday. Pic/AFP

England captain Harry Kane complained Dutch referee Danny Makkelie wasn't strong enough to allow Danny Welbeck's goal deep into stoppage time as the Three Lions lost 2-1 to Spain on Saturday.

In their first game since reaching the semi-finals at the World Cup, England were denied a point to begin their UEFA Nations League campaign when Makkelie awarded a foul in favour of Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea for minimal contact with Welbeck. "In the big moments you need the referee to stay strong, but unfortunately he has bottled it," Kane said.

"Big moments you need a firm referee who don't, under the pressure, get wrong decisions, basically. Danny stood there, De Gea went up, he caught the ball but, as he went down, he fell on Danny, no foul or anything, and the ball has dropped." Kane picked up his Golden Boot for finishing top scorer at the World Cup before kick-off at Wembley.

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