NO LIMITS FOR LIONS
Henderson follows skipper Kane in saying England must believe they can go all the way in the World Cup
IT did not seem ideal in the build-up to a Champions League Final, but Jordan Henderson took it well.
Four days before the biggest game of his career, and almost two months after Harry Kane had been told, the call came from England boss Gareth Southgate.
Sorry Jordan, Harry’s my skipper.
Henderson had been the only other realistic contender but Southgate had plumped for Tottenham striker Kane, even though the Liverpool midfielder fulfils the role for his club.
Few players are more focused than Henderson and it did not faze him.
“The manager rang me on the Tuesday in the week leading up to the final,” said Henderson. “I wasn’t thinking about it because of the final – that is where my focus was.
“When the gaffer told me I was just really pleased for Harry.”
Later that day, Henderson turned on his television to hear Kane claim England could win the World Cup.
It set the tone for the positivity that has, so far, coursed through Southgate’s young squad in the build-up to their challenge in Russia.
And Henderson agrees with the man who beat him to the armband. He said: “In the tournaments I’ve been to, we haven’t achieved anything really, to be honest.
“The first Euros I played in, we beat Sweden, got Italy and got knocked out on penalties.
“But, apart from that, we didn’t get out of the group in the 2014 World Cup and got beaten by Iceland at the last Euros. So other people will ask what is a success in the World Cup – but as a player and as a group of players, why would you want to put a limit on what is success or not?
“You’ve got to go in with the mentality that we can go all the way because we are good enough as a team.”
He did, though, despite the self-belief, suggest it would be a shock if England went all the way.
“There have been a lot of upsets in sport,” he said. “No disrespect but look at when Leicester won the Premier League. Not a lot of people would have said they could have done that.
“That is just one instance. You’ve got to have belief in the group all the time and believe you can reach the heights.”
And in captain Kane, Henderson believes they have one of the tournament’s most potent threats.
He added: “Harry has probably got the best finishing from a player I have ever seen – left foot, right foot, he’s special. He is the best I’ve ever played with in terms of finishing.”
The ramifications of the Champions League Final defeat to Real Madrid are still rumbling, but Henderson has blanked them from his consciousness.
“It was very tough, it was a difficult night, a difficult moment,” he admitted. “But football moves on quickly, we move forward and the World Cup means I can get ready for that.”
And that is why he did not want to get drawn on the Loris Karius concussion debate, even though he has spoken to the keeper since that calamitous night in Kiev.
“I speak to Loris, he’s a team-mate and I speak to him all the time,” said Henderson. “Apart from that, I can’t really comment. I don’t think it would be wise.”
And if Henderson has developed into anything, it is a wise head in this England camp. He might not be skipper but he will be a leader, that is for sure.