‘Kane can set England goal record well into the 70s’
Wayne Rooney has backed Harry Kane to establish an England goalscoring record that could stand for many years to come.
Kane surpassed Rooney as England’smostprolificmarksman when he netted for his country for the 54th time in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Italy in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Naples–his81stinternationalappearance.
Rooney, who had held the recordsince2015,nowexpects 29-year-old Kane to raise the bar significantly. The former Manchester United striker said: “Knowing Harry, it’s not something that will go to his head. He will kick on and, in fact, I believe that when he stops playing he will leave the England record in a place where it will be very difficult for someone else to break it.
“He wants to be like Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, a goal machine who is still at the very top in his mid-30s, and he has it in him to make that happen. I think Harry will finish withanEnglandgoalstotalwell into the 70s.”
Rooney, who retired from international football in 2017, played alongside Kane in the early years of the Tottenham striker’s career and anticipated big things from a player he likens to Cristiano Ronaldo.
He said: “You could see it was natural to him. He didn’t havetolookwherethegoalwas — he already knew — and he would get his shot away at any opportunity. He was shooting from anywhere, all these mad angles, and that turned out to be a feature of his game.
“The only other person I’ve seen like that is Cristiano Ronaldo. Records are great when you have them but are always there to be broken. It was a huge honour to be England’s top scorer, but there’s an evolution in football, isn’t there?”