Confident Kane vows to ‘show the world what I’ve got’
England captain targets personal and team glory ‘Fighting for the fans back home is motivation’
Harry Kane has laid down a challenge to the best in the world by outlining a series of extraordinary ambitions on the eve of England’s Group G opening game against Tunisia.
The England captain wants to challenge Cristiano Ronaldo for the Golden Boot, insists he is ready to prove himself on the biggest stage and talked of making the World Cup his first trophy.
Kane is yet to score a goal in a major tournament, while England have not made it past the last 16 of the World Cup since 2006, but the striker demonstrated the confidence that is running through the squad.
Responding to a question from a local journalist regarding jokes on social media that the Russian teapot he was presented with in Repino represented his first trophy, Kane replied: “I’ve got a lot of scoring trophies in my career. I’d like to be sitting here with a big gold one [the World Cup] in a few weeks.”
It was only two questions into the pre-match press conference that Kane described his journey from watching the last World Cup on holiday to captaining England in Volgograd by saying: “Mauricio Pochettino came in that summer and got me fit, in better shape and more powerful. I kicked on from there.
“I had to work hard on the training pitch and take the opportunities when they came. The last few years, I’ve proved myself and now I’m here, and can’t wait to get out there and show the world what I’ve got.”
Kane watched Ronaldo kick off his World Cup campaign with a hattrick for Portugal against Spain and is aiming to emulate the Real Madrid forward’s start.
Having narrowly lost out to Mohamed Salah in the race to be the Premier League top scorer last season, Kane said: “For sure, he [Ronaldo] has put me under a bit of pressure. He’s a fantastic player who had a fantastic game, but it’s about concentrating on the team.
“Hopefully, I will score a hat-trick and we’ll be level. But it’s not something I’ll be thinking about until later in the tournament.”
Kane’s bold claims are perhaps more a reflection of his enthusiasm to captain England at the World Cup and his determination to make it as successful as possible.
“Everyone’s excited,” he said. “We’ve been watching the games, itching to get out there. Training’s been fantastic. Everyone’s been on it. Everyone’s been fighting for places, competition. It’s been really impressive. I think the lads want to take that into the games now.
“We can’t wait to get started and, obviously, all the fans back home watching, we want to make them proud. We want to fight for them, win for them, and that’s what we play football for.
“For me and the team, 2016 didn’t go well. Like the gaffer says, a new squad, new ideas, a new way of playing. It’s just obviously we want to attack this tournament, create chances and score goals.
“In the friendlies, we did that well, the way we played with the runners getting in behind. That’ll help me get some space and some chances, to continue what I’m doing, what I did towards the end of last season in the Premier League, go out there with confidence and play my best for the team.”
Southgate picked Kane as his permanent World Cup captain ahead of Jordan Henderson and the 24-year-old’s pre-match message to the squad tonight will be a simple one. “Just to play, play well. Everyone, I’m sure, will have some words to say. For me, it’s just about concentrating on your job. Every player does their job to the best of their ability and I’m sure we’ll do pretty well. For me and the other players, recognising if things aren’t going well, can you pick players up, help them along?
“There are going to be times against Tunisia, and all the games, where there will be highs and lows, and it’s all about controlling that and managing that.”
Both Kane and manager Gareth Southgate were asked by an overseas reporter about the significance of playing England’s first World Cup game at such an important historical site as Volgograd, where the battle of Stalingrad was fought.
Kane said: “It’s great to play football in such a place. We travel the world a lot as footballers. You obviously want to go and see the history, the things we don’t always get to do. But we have to play football. History is what it is. There’s a lot of respect there, but we must concentrate on the task ahead.”