Kane backs united England to make impact
LONDON: Captain Harry Kane says England’s bid to end their World Cup drought stretching back over half a century will not be undone by a divided squad.
The 24-year-old striker said there were no cliques within the squad that was due to fly out to Russia yesterday seeking to emulate their 1966 predecessors in lifting the trophy.
Both Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard claimed the reason they and the others who made up the so-called ‘golden generation’ fell short at successive finals was they could not shake off their different club rivalries when they joined up with their England teammates.
Kane, though, told the English daily newspapers this is not the case with the present group under Gareth Southgate — as many of them have played with each other at Under-21 level.
“It’s not something we’ve had to deal with really — we all get on very well and have come through the ranks together,” said Kane.
“We definitely don’t have that divide in the team any more.
Kane also took issue with Ferdinand who told The Times last month his priority had been winning trophies with Manchester United.
“It’s the one competition that everybody dreams of winning. That’s No.1.
“I’d be surprised if the majority of players did not say the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world.
“I’d love to win everything with Tottenham, but for me personally the World Cup
outweighs them all.”
Kane, who says his mum cried when he was handed the captaincy by Southgate, does not expect a repeat of the woeful Euro 2016 campaign which saw them beaten by minnows Iceland in the last 16 and cost then manager Roy Hodgson his job.
“I’m confident it won’t happen [again] — I won’t say 100 percent because you never know in football — but in this team we wear our heart on our sleeve.
“We’re proud to be here, we will work hard, be energetic. First and foremost we
will run around and do that aspect of the game. We have a lot of attacking flair that can do some damage.”
Southgate, who experienced the pitfalls of international football when he missed a penalty in the shoot-out loss to old foes Germany in the Euro ‘96 semi-finals hosted in England, did not wish to heighten expectations which has so often been a crushing burden for the national side.
“We hope we can send people to work the following day having enjoyed our matches, I know what those tournament experiences can be like and we desperately want to bring that,” said Southgate, whose side have warmed up with wins over fellow finalists Nigeria and Costa Rica.
“We know we are not the finished article, in fact we’re a long way from, but I think people see signs of progress and enjoy watching us and the manner in which we try to play.”
Kane and England open their World Cup campaign against Tunisia in Volgograd next Monday, followed by dates with Panama and Belgium.
BALL GIRLS FOR OPENER
A group of 14 Russian girls will act as ballgirls in the opening match of the World Cup tomorrow, the first all-female group to do so.
The girls, aged 13 to 16, from Agryz, a small town of 19,000 people some 800km east of Moscow, were selected by the Russian national team after making a sponsor’s shortlist of “inspiring entrants” to a national junior football tournament.
“It’s like a fairytale for them”, said their coach, Ildar Idiyatov.
The 14 girls, who play football for a team in the Russian region of Tartarstan, will have the eyes of the world on them as they return the ball in the Group A match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
The local World Cup organising committee said 776 children would work as ballboys and ballgirls at the 64 match tournament, but this was the first time an allfemale group had operated at the opening game of the Fifa showpiece.