An ‘amazing honour’ for captain Kane
HARRY Kane is ready for the “amazing honour” of leading his country at a World Cup after being being named England captain for next month’s tournament.
The Tottenham striker was confirmed as Three Lions skipper by manager Gareth Southgate during a team meeting at St George’s Park on Monday. He has long been favourite to land the prestigious role but Southgate has rotated the captaincy since taking over in 2016 in a bid to encourage shared responsibility.
Now, with just 23 days to go before the competition gets under way in Russia, Kane has emerged as the nation’s figurehead, edging out Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson and Spurs club-mate Eric Dier.
“To be leading the lads out is going to be special,” Kane said as he and Southgate appeared in a live stream on England’s official Twitter feed.
“Obviously you always dream of playing for England, growing up. To be the captain is that little bit more. It’s an amazing honour.
“(I’m) so excited, obviously excited for the World Cup. I just can’t wait to be there and experience it. But for me nothing changes - I’m the same person, the same player, and it’s just about the team. We’ve just got to do what we can and go as far as we can.”
Kane first skippered England in the qualifier against Scotland last June and has done so on three further occasions.
He has made no secret of the fact he coveted the job on a more permanent basis and made all the right impressions on Southgate – a man who captained all of his professional clubs and knows plenty about the expectations the post entails.
“Harry has some outstanding personal qualities. He is a meticulous professional and one of the most important things for a captain is that they set the standard every day,” he said.