MAKE MINE A TREBLE
Kane: I want hat-trick like Ronaldo
ENGLAND captain Harry Kane has vowed to challenge Cristiano Ronaldo for the Golden Boot as Gareth Southgate’s young lions begin their World Cup assault tonight.
Kane will shoulder England’s goalscoring burden in Russia — starting against Tunisia here this evening — but the prolific striker insists the challenge does not faze him.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Portugal’s first game against Spain on Friday and Kane said: ‘I’ve got a lot of scoring trophies in my career. I’d like to be sitting here with a big gold one in a few weeks. Ronaldo has put me under a bit of pressure. Hopefully I will score a hat-trick and we’ll be level.
‘I can’t wait to get out there and show the world what I’ve got.’
Southgate insists his players are ready to repair England’s tarnished reputation following the embarrassments of World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016.
‘They have a hunger to play brave football,’ said Southgate. ‘They want to be a bold and attacking team. That’s how I want them to play.
‘That’s why I joined the FA as an Under 21s coach. There was a perception of English football across the world and I wanted to change that. We did that with the youth team. Now we’re looking to do that in the senior team.’
Kane will lead the attack alongside Raheem Sterling with Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard in midfield. Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young will fill the wing-back
Serbia are reluctant favourites. it is not their default to attack gloriously, to dominate the ball.
Yesterday was a grind, Costa rica’s lack of imagination providing a significant problem. Mladen Krstajic’s side, the tallest in the competition, would prefer a physical fight.
The result was important though and secured by aleksandar Kolarov’s quite marvellous 56thminute free-kick.
Victory in Krstajic’s first competitive game in charge puts Serbia in a strong position as they look to reach the last 16 for the first time since playing as part of Yugoslavia in 1998.
added to that, there was clear evidence why europe’s elite are queuing up for Sergej MilinkovicSavic. The Lazio midfielder’s ingenuity will be the key if they are to upset better opponents.
‘My players had the right attitude and approach — unity,’ said Krstajic, who replaced the previous manager Slavoljub Muslin last October.
‘We had to be a compact unit in both defence and attack and that’s most important.’
The problem for Costa rica, after spending the last fortnight aimlessly chasing markers in friendlies against england and belgium, is that they appeared to forget how to attack.
‘We had our tactical plan in place and we tried to attack them on the wings,’ said manager Oscar ramirez. ‘We tried to execute our plan but they managed to score on a set-piece. What can you do?’