SCORING IS MY BIG GOAL
Captain Kane keen on hitting the target more for club and country
ENGLAND captain says he doesn’t feel the weight of carrying the Three Lions on his shoulders.
Kane reached a half-century of senior international goals as his late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw against Germany last week.
It was the only goal England have managed in their first three Nations League fixtures this month during a disappointing time for Gareth Southgate’s squad.
The Three Lions manager said after the goalless stalemate with Italy on Saturday that he was “concerned” by the reliance on both Kane and Raheem Sterling to score the goals for England.
Asked if he enjoys the pressure of being the player everyone expects to score, Kane replied: “As a striker you have that expectation of yourself and the team have it on you to produce as well.
“I enjoy scoring goals and winning games.
“That’s the most important thing. I always try to do my best to help the team in every aspect, whether it’s scoring, assists, defending, setplays.
“There’s no pressure from the other players in terms of making me feel nervous about scoring.
“We all know our responsibilities and our jobs and I try to take that responsibility as one of the experienced players. I just enjoy scoring goals.”
The Tottenham striker also backed his team-mates to get back among the goals.
“If you look over the last two or three years, we’ve definitely had goals in different areas in terms of set-plays, defenders getting goals, midfielders picking up goals,” he said.
“But I think in any team, any top team, you’re going to have a main striker who gets the majority of the goals, a main attacking winger who’s going to get some goals.
“I’m sure every lad who puts on an England shirt wants to go out and score and get assists and affect the game.
Runners
“So I guess the most important thing is the mentality, to have that hunger to go and get those goals and that’s kind of what I speak to my team-mates about – getting in the box, the back post, midfield runners getting in there, that’s really important.”
Kane points out that England have done well in the last two major finals with a semi in the World Cup before their defeat against Italy only on penalties in the Euros.
“I think going into major tournament football, we’ve done that pretty well.
“But look, we’re still learning, still improving, the boys are eager to score as many goals as possible and help the team out.”
Kane’s goals at club level have seen him win the Premier League golden boot on three different occasions.
His position as one of the deadliest finishers in the division could come under threat following Manchester City’s signing of Erling Haaland and the seemingly-imminent arrival of Darwin Nunez at Liverpool.
“The battle for the Golden Boot’s always tough,” he added.
“The Premier League has produced top strikers from around the world for a number of years now. Every
season I’ve been playing it’s always been a tough battle to win that Golden Boot and you expect the top strikers to want to play in the Premier League.
“It shows with those two signings that’s going to be the case. It helps, it helps me as a player to have good competition and hopefully to improve and get better, so for sure, I look forward to the challenge.
Lionesses “I try to focus on myself to begin with. Going into any season, I have things I want to achieve and goals I want to reach and I try not to focus on other players too much in that aspect of things.”
The England men’s players have been speaking to the Lionesses squad to try and pass on a few tips before next month’s Euros.
Lucy Bronze has spoken of
England Women’s hopes of making the most of being hosts, with the team having talked with the men’s side about last summer.
The last couple of weeks have seen both the Lionesses and their male counterparts – Euros runners-up a year ago after defeat on penalties to Italy at Wembley – spending time in camp at St George’s Park.
England Women are seeking glory on home soil this summer after going as far as the semi-finals at their last three major tournaments.
And Bronze said, when asked about the pressure of the tournament ahead, for which each of England’s group games and the Wembley final is sold out: “I think the best and biggest players want to play with that, want to play in those games, with the full crowds.
“And I think we’re trying to see it as just a lot of support. It’s our 12th man, hopefully.”