“CAN HARRY KANE EMULATE ME THIS YEAR? YES, HE CAN”
Sir Geoff Hurst fired the Three Lions to glory on home soil in 1966, and says England’s latest star striker can have similar success
What’s it like to play for England in a major tournament at Wembley?
I was so fortunate that England had a World Cup on home soil when I was at my peak. I mean, crikey – it’s just absolutely amazing!
Final hat- trick aside, what do you recall most of the home tournament experience?
people will tell you that there were gigantic crowds at Trafalgar Square, celebrating all night, but you’re not aware of it. The thing I was aware of, coming up to the ground in the coach, was a huge banner held up by two people that said, ‘ Nobby Stiles for Prime Minister’! You look at the number of people who watched the final: it was over 30 million. You’re going back more than half a century and it’s still the biggest television audience we’ve ever had – even bigger than some of the coronations, weddings and so on.
Did you approach each game during that tournament like a home match, or as if it was a neutral venue?
You probably regard it as a neutral venue, given there are so many other nationalities in the crowd all supporting their particular teams. It’s been said that we won it because we were at home – I never felt that. We were very successful away, too. During the run- up to the World Cup, we were almost unbeaten for a year and looking really good. We didn’t regard ourselves as favourites, though – our expectations weren’t actually that high with the general public. But we deserved to be up among the favourites, with the structure of the team, how it had progressed and the squad that Sir Alf Ramsey had put together over the three years before the tournament.
As an English player, is there a greater feeling than playing for your country?
No. That’s the easy answer to that question! I never even dreamed I’d play for England – I was quite shocked when Ron Greenwood stopped a five- a- side game at West Ham one day to tell me that I’d been selected. To play for your country is the pinnacle of your career. There was a feeling a few years ago, maybe – although no one actually voiced it – that it was more important to play in the Champions League than for your nation, but I’ve never agreed with that.
Do you think Harry Kane can replicate what you managed to do in 1966?
Yes, he can. It’s going to be extremely hard: history has told us that for 55 years, nobody has scored a hat- trick in a major final! Harry has been outstanding for Tottenham and England. He’s not just a goalscorer now; his overall play has developed in the last couple of years, and he is such a dangerous player. He can score and create goals.
Which other Three Lions players have been impressing you?
If you pick the front three – Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling – then what a front three that is. Goals, pace, working together. In the middle there’s Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish – they’re overloaded. Declan Rice seems to be a shoo- in for that holding position, and what a season it’s been for him and West Ham. We have some great young players. Gareth Southgate has been very good, and under him, the opinion that it was more important to play European football than international football has turned around. There was a sense of disappointment with the general public, but that has changed dramatically since Gareth took over and there’s a much higher expectation. My view is that we’ve got a really good chance of being successful this summer. Sir Geoff is an ambassador for the 2021 FA and Mcdonald’s Grassroots Football Awards. For details, visit mcdonalds. co. uk/ awards
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