Kane set for a start in Golden Boot race
WHEN WE SAID SPRAY IT WIDE, RAHEEM...
GARETH Southgate is ready to give Harry Kane the chance to soar ahead in the race for the Golden Boot against Belgium tomorrow night.
The England manager is set to make changes from the team who beat Panama 6-1 and admitted he would leave Kane out if he felt it would benefit the team ahead of next week’s last-16 clash.
However, Southgate is mindful of his prolific striker’s ambition to finish as the World Cup’s top goalscorer and is ready to play the Tottenham striker in Kaliningrad.
‘As a manager you have to think of the whole squad and then your second thought is for individuals and their own situations. That is a really complex balance in any business where you are managing people but I am sure we can get that right,’ said Southgate.
‘He is the captain and he knows he will be judged on how far we go as a team. He wants to contribute to a winning team and he knows it is not as satisfying if you are a player scoring goals and the team does not win.’
The manager recognises Kane’s goalscoring prowess offers England the best opportunity to win the game, which will decide who finishes top of the group.
The 24-year-old (right) leads the goalscoring charts with five, with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku both on four.
But with Portugal having already played all three of their group games and Lukaku set to miss tomorrow’s game with an ankle injury, Kane has a chance to extend his lead.
His Spurs teammate Danny Rose is also set to play, having so far been used for just 20 minutes against Panama. Kieran Trippier trained fully yesterday after a thigh-injury scare in the game against Panama but Southgate will still consider resting his right wing-back.
The fact Kyle Walker and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have picked up yellow cards and risk suspension will also be considered by the England manager.
Fabian Delph will travel to Kaliningrad with the rest of the squad despite the pending birth of his baby. He is, however, due to return to England for the birth after the game against Belgium before returning to Russia.
Rose is set for a change of heart as he prepares to fly his family out to the World Cup. The defender revealed ahead of the tournament that he had forbidden his loved ones from coming to Russia out of fears of racism.
But the left-back admitted he had been pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere here. ‘Yes, if I manage to get in the team at some point, I may change my mind,’ he said. ‘It’s been really quiet. The weather’s amazing. I haven’t had much time to go out into St Petersburg yet, but from what everyone says, it’s beautiful.’ Gary Cahill, meanwhile, shook his head yesterday when it was suggested England should attempt to plot a safer path through this World Cup by perhaps making a concerted effort to finish second in the group when they meet Belgium, a position which could give them a supposedly easier passage through the knockout stage.
Tomorrow is the second anniversary of England’s European Championship defeat to Iceland and Cahill remembers it only too well.
It was supposed to be an easy victory; supposed to be little more than a stepping stone to a rather more glamorous quarter-final with the tournament hosts.
‘We were looking at playing against France in their stadium and thinking about how it was going to be such a fantastic occasion,’ he recalled. ‘And it never got to that.
‘I can’t look beyond the next game. The message to us is to prepare to win the game.
‘The discussions have been to go and win the game. And that’s the truth, to go and win the game, to build momentum, to keep that good feeling.
‘You can’t look too far ahead. You face who you are going to face. And the fact is that in the next round it looks like you are going to face a team that will be similar whether you finish in first or second place.’
That said, winning the group means a probable quarter-final against Brazil or Germany, while finishing as runners-up points to Switzerland or Mexico.
England’s record against the first two teams is disappointing to say the least. But this tournament has been no respecter of reputation or history and Cahill thinks a third victory for England tomorrow would have most sides fearing them.
‘If we were to beat Belgium, I don’t think teams would want to face us,’ he said.