Kane hunts Golden Boot
When Harry Kane takes the field for England today, it will be his first match in nine days. He’s still the leading scorer at the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Colombia forward James Rodriguez — the top scorer in Brazil four years ago — hasn’t found the net, and it’s not certain he’ll get a chance to change that against England because of a calf injury.
Measure Kane’s five goals against Rodriguez’s uneven, injuryinterrupted play, and it’s easy to see why England has been a darling of the World Cup and Colombia have yet to impose their will upon the tournament.
England took their foot off the accelerator after an initial two games that couldn’t have gone better, resting Kane and seven other regulars in a group match against Belgium that only mattered for either side because it determined who they’d play next. On paper, England vs Colombia at Moscow’s intimate Spartak Stadium is more or less a wash — England is 12th in the FIFA rankings and Colombia is 16th, not that the rankings have meant much in an upset-heavy World Cup that’s already seen Germany, Portugal, Argentina and Spain eliminated. The subject of fan debate for England has been whether coach Gareth Southgate did the right thing by taking it easy against Belgium because it put England in what looks to be the better half of the knockout draw. The winner of Colombia-England gets the Sweden-Switzerland victor in the quarterfinals, and then a semi-final looms against Croatia or Russia. The other half of the draw includes the
Bfearsome quartet of Uruguay and Belgium.
Kane scored both of England’s goals in a 2-1 win over Tunisia and added a hattrick as the Three Lions humiliated Panama 6-1. His total is one better than Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku (who has also played in just two matches) and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (whose World Cup run is over). That puts Kane in a good position to collect the Golden Boot for the tournament’s top scorer, an honour the Tottenham forward just missed during the last Premier League season, when his 30 goals were second to Mohamed Salah’s 32 for Liverpool. Kane has 13 goals in nine games under Southgate and 11 in his seven appearances as England’s captain.
Rodriguez’s last goal for Colombia came in an October 2017 qualifier against Peru. He’d love to end that scoreless run on Tuesday, if his health allows. Brazil, France,