YOU SNOOZE, YOU LEWSE Matthaus: No.1 threat to Pole striker winning Golden Boot is... Harry Kane
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI and Harry Kane have been tipped to fight it out for the Golden Boot in Russia this summer.
German legend Lothar Matthaus (right) knows all about the Polish superstar after watching him rack up the goals for his beloved Bayern Munich.
But the World Cup-winning skipper from Italia 90 is a big fan of England talisman Kane (below) and reckons both hitmen are ready to take their domestic form on to the international stage.
Matthaus said: “I love Harry Kane, but, for me, he is only the second-best No.9 in the world – behind Poland’s Robert Lewandowski.
“Kane scores a lot of goals, he is always fighting for the team, he makes clever runs and takes pressure off the defence.
“He is a good character, too, perhaps not the best technically, but he knows where the goal is.
“But Lewandowski plays more with the ball at his feet and he has more experience at the very highest level.
“They could be fighting for the Golden Boot, but then there’s Edinson Cavani for Uruguay, and, of course, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will also be in the running.”
Matthaus is backing Gareth Southgate’s young Lions to make a splash in Russia, but reckons it will be another four years before England can really challenge for honours. He added: “I like England, they have a young, talented team and the Premier League is being helped by foreign coaches, such as Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, and Pep Guardiola.
“These coaches help the young players in England – they give them confidence and an example of what is needed to succeed.
“You have only to look at the results England’s youth teams have been getting at world level to realise there is plenty of talent there.
“But it’s a worry that some of the England players are not getting enough game time. This World Cup may have come too early, but in four years’ time it will be a different story.” SANK without trace in Brazil in 2014. Regularly make up the numbers – having qualified for the last six consecutive World Cups – but that’s all they do. Still, they are in the weakest of groups, so who knows?
Expectations