Harry’s princely play leads Brits
Harry Kane’s historic goalscoring pace has England in position to end its World Cup drought.
On Saturday, when England meets Sweden in Samara, Russia, for a spot in the semifinals, Kane will play in just his fourth career World Cup match — all in this tournament. In that short time span, he has already become England’s second-leading scorer in World Cup history.
His six goals are the most in this tournament and trail Gary Lineker’s 10 in 12 games for the most in England’s history. He is two goals ahead of Portugal’s Cristiano Ron al do and Belgium’s Rome lu Lukaku in the race for the Golden Boot as the World Cup’s leading scorer.
“That’s what is so fantastic for Harry, to score goals on the world stage is another level and another level of achievement,” England coach Gareth Southgate told reporters Friday. “We are delighted for him that he is individually doing well and, of course, that’s helping us enormously as a team.”
Kane’s blistering start to the tournament isn’t shocking to Premier League fans. They have seen him score at least 25 goals in three seasons running for Tottenham.
Kane has been criticized, perhaps unfairly, for his supposed inability to deliver in highpressure situations. He failed to score in England’s disastrous 2016 European Championship, and has never won a trophy at the club level.
The anxiety over Kane’s World Cup was further exacerbated when he injured ankle ligaments in March, only to return unexpectedly less than three weeks later.
Kane may not even be at full strength in Russia, but his ruthlessly efficient performances have put doubts about his ability to rest.
Kane’s full range of talents hasn’ t been showcased in Russia as tournament play often features deep, cautious defenses (England has faced a few of these now) and somewhat disjointed attacking units like that of the Three Lions. Nonetheless, his kind of talent as a goal-scorer is something England has lacked for some time.
Kane scored two headers from close range against Tunisia, and three penalties total against Panama and Colombia (including another in the shootout to advance to the quarterfinals).
Kane’s stellar play has stood out when compared to previous Three Lions stars. Michael Owen was spectacular as a teenager, but quickly fizzled out, and Wayne Rooney scored just one World Cup goal in 11 appearances, despite a glittering Premier League career with Manchester United. England scored just 11 goals combined in the past three World Cups, while this year’s team already has eight this tournament.
It won’t matter to England fans if Kane ends the World Cup with iffy underlying numbers; he hasn’t created many chances for teammates and six goals from nine shots is an unsustainable rate.
But if England is to win its first World Cup in 52 years, its hopes live and die with Kane, and there are certainly worse options to bank on.