Kane tells the boo boys: Be patient
England fans jeered side during 4-0 win in Malta Striker urges calm for vital qualifier against Slovakia
Harry Kane has hit back at England’s armchair critics and told the stadium boo boys to remain patient with the national team.
England’s travelling supporters booed during the 4-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Malta, in which Gareth Southgate’s team scored three late goals. The performance also received criticism from fans who watched the game on television. But, when asked about accusations that players do not have enough pride in the England shirt, Kane said: “It takes a lot of commitment to reach the top … start from a young age, dedication, and you have to be a top professional to play for your country.
“Anyone who says that, I don’t think they understand what it takes, and it’s probably why they’re sitting at home watching and we’re out there playing. I’m extremely proud to represent my country and I know the other players are.”
Manager Southgate claimed the England players would have to get used to fans showing their frustration inside the stadium, but Kane, who scored twice against Malta, has called for calm ahead of tomorrow night’s vital qualifier against Slovakia.
England are on 17 points, two points ahead of Slovakia in Group F, with the two teams due to meet at Wembley. Not only would a win put England in charge of the group, and virtually seal automatic qualification for Russia next year, but it would give their closest neighbours – and rivals – a major boost for a play-off place. Scotland – on 11 points to Slovakia’s 15 – could do with a Sassenach lifeline in their bid to finish second and so have a chance to qualify for their first major tournament since the World Cup in France in 1998.
After a strong 3-0 win away at Lithuania on Friday, Scotland would go just one point behind Slovakia if England win tomorrow and they beat Malta at Hampden, with matches against both Slovakia (home) and Slovenia (away) to come in October.
Kane said: “We’re by no means the finished article, there’s still a lot for us to work on. We’ve got to stay patient as a country together, it’s not going to happen overnight, there are a lot of very good teams, obviously France winning 4-0. So there’s still a lot of preparations from now until the World Cup and it’s a big game on Monday night where we can put a big marker down. From our point of view, as a country, we just need to stay patient, stay relaxed and see what happens.”
On the booing against Malta, Kane added: “Everyone just needs to stay patient. Obviously they [the fans] can be frustrated – we were frustrated in that first half, of course we always want to blow teams away in the first half, but it doesn’t always happen like that, especially games when people always underestimate the opposition, and especially away from home.
“They [the fans] just have to stay patient as we did in the game, and we scored four very good goals in the end. When people looked at this on
Saturday morning and saw a 4-0 result they’d say that’s what people would have expected.”
Kane says the England players accept that supporters will not be won over by qualifying for the World Cup, following the disastrous Euro 2016.
“Yes, that’s understandable,” he said. “We’ve done well at this stage before but it’s all about the tournament. That’s nothing we can control for now, all we can try to do is qualify, try to play good football, try to learn and get better, that’s all we can do, and then what happens in a tournament happens.”
Kane has scored five goals in his last three England games and 10 in 20 international appearances overall.
“When you’re a striker everyone looks to you for the goals, so I’m happy to get those goals” said Kane. “If anyone else can score it’s great as well, as it was Friday.
“As a striker, people expect you to score, and I’ll carry that burden and relish it.
“In international football it’s tough to score, so I’m happy to get to the 10 mark and, hopefully, I’ll get to 15 as soon as possible.”
On the fact he had scored on Sept 1 after once again failing to hit the net in August, Kane added: “A few of the lads have been having a laugh saying it was Sept 1. It’s strange that it falls on that date, but it’s just great to be on the scoresheet.”
Kane says a Wembley win over Slovakia would also boost England’s Tottenham players. Tottenham are yet to win at their temporary Wembley home and Kane added: “We do all right there for England, so for me and the Spurs boys it would be good to win and take that confidence into the league.”