Kane: We do care about the Three Lions
HARRY KANE has defiantly dismissed the accusation that England players don’t care about playing for their country after the laboured 4-0 win in Malta on Friday night.
And he insists the armchair critics don’t understand just how hard players have worked to earn the honour of representing England.
The Spurs striker, who has scored five times in the last three England games, made a plea to frustrated travelling fans who abused the England team in Ta’ Qali to stay patient and to trust in this generation of players to grow into the job, even though England looked turgid for long periods and were only 1-0 up in the 85th minute.
Kane, who was asked whether the England shirt meant enough to the players, said: ‘That’s an unfair statement. Every player here is very proud to represent their country.
‘There’s a lot of hard work and effort to get where we are. It didn’t happen overnight, it started at a young age and took a lot of hard work and dedication. Anyone who says that doesn’t understand what it takes — that’s probably why they’re sitting at home watching and we’re out there playing.’
Kane admitted past failures, notably the defeat to Iceland last year, means fans will be sceptical but said this group of players will ultimately deliver.
‘The fans are frustrated. We were frustrated in that first half,’ he added. We always want to blow teams away in the first half but it doesn’t always happen like that. In games like this people underestimate the opposition and away from home. The fans can do what they want and they just have to stay patient as we did 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.
‘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. It’s a big game on Monday (against Slovakia) where we can put a big marker down. Let’s relax and see what happens.’