Harry Kane Says England's Euro 2020 Defeat to Czech Republic Is a 'Wake-Up Call'

England captain Harry Kane said Friday that the Three Lions' defeat to Czech Republic in UEFA 2020 European Championship qualifying is a "wake-up call" for Gareth Southgate's men.

The defeat in Prague sees the Czech Republic move level on points with England at the top of Group A, although Jaroslav Silhavy's squad have played a game more than the Three Lions.

Kane told ITV (h/t Paul Higham at Sporting Life) after the match that England must improve ahead of Monday's qualifier in Bulgaria at Sofia's Vasil Levski National Stadium:

"Every away game in Europe is difficult. They had the crowd behind them, maybe the pitch isn't as great and as easy to play on. But there's no excuse, we've played in these games before and we have to do better than tonight.

"It's a bit of a wake-up call, of course we're still in a good position so there's no need to panic. We obviously have to win the game on Monday but, for sure, we've still got stuff to work on."

Kane gave England the lead in Prague from the penalty spot on five minutes after Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area by Lukas Masopust.

However, the visitors were well below par during the match and saw the Czechs equalise through Jakub Brabec four minutes later. 

The hosts had further chances to score through Vladimir Coufal, Masopust and Alex Kral before substitute Zdenek Ondrasek netted the winner with five minutes of normal time remaining.

Opta noted how it is England's first defeat in qualifying for a decade:

Southgate told ITV Football his team were not good enough after the match:

England still look certain to qualify for the finals, but the defeat will raise questions marks over their ability to make an impact at the tournament. The team's defence looked frail throughout the 90 minutes, and they have now conceded five goals in England's last two games.

There was also a notable lack of cohesion among the players as England slipped to a deserved defeat to a team they thrashed 5-0 at Wembley Stadium in March. The loss will go down as of the worst performances by the Three Lions since Southgate was appointed manager in November 2016.

ESPN FC's Dale Johnson also noted another possible impact of the defeat:

England now head to Bulgaria for their second fixture of the international break and can secure qualification if they win and Kosovo fail to beat Montenegro.