Pele joins Kane's growing fan-club
LONDON: Brazil legend Pele has joined Harry Kane's growing fan-club after lavishing praise on Tottenham's rising star.
Kane was called into the England squad for the first time this week as a reward for a brilliant breakthrough season.
The 21-year-old forward caught the eye of England coach Roy Hodgson after scoring 26 times this term, and he should get a first taste of senior international football in the upcoming matches against Lithuania and Italy.
Kane's predatory performances in the Premier League have drawn plaudits of many across the world and Pele, universally regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time, is the latest to show his appreciation of the youngster's emergence.
"I think he is an excellent player, he could be a good one for the English team," Pele said at a promotional event in London on Friday.
"First of all, he has to take care of his physical condition.
"I used to say, 'God give me the gift to play football, to do something', but you must always be in good shape.
"That is one thing, and tell him never think he can be the best. Always he has something to learn. That is my advice."
However, Pele, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970, warned both club and country against pinning their hopes solely on Kane.
"What is important is the teamwork, I think. You cannot win games with individual players. Always it was like that," he added.
"When you have excellent players, sometimes the team doesn't work, you need a good team ethic.
"I am going to give one example -in the Brazil team at the World Cup in England, we had at that time the best players.
"We played the World Cup here but we lost, then in 1970 in Mexico we had an excellent team.
"Our individual players were not the best, but we won the World Cup with the team, not the individual players." - AFP