Harry hopes it’s a happy homecoming
HARRY KANE can’t wait for an emotional reunion with his young family — and plans to bring a Euro 2020 winner’s medal along to show the sacrifices of being separated so long were worthwhile. Kane will become only the second England captain after Bobby Moore in 1966 to lift a major trophy if Gareth Southgate’s men defeat Italy at Wembley tonight.
The 27-year-old Spurs striker admits it’s been tough not to see wife Katie and their three children Ivy (4), Vivienne (2) and Louis (seven months) for more than a month because of strict Covid bubbles and is desperate to end the tournament on a high.
‘My oldest is four and a half, I don’t think she understands the magnitude of the final, she is still a little bit young,’ said England’s captain. ‘First and foremost, she wants me to come home — but if football comes home, we’ll all be delighted!
‘It’s been tough. It’s never easy when you are away from home. It’s been a long time, which is what we wanted from a football point of view, but only seeing them on FaceTime and not being able to hug my wife after games is difficult.
‘But we’re professionals, it is part of the job and situation we are in. We want to make it all worth it by winning against Italy.’
Despite his worldclass reputation, Kane is still looking for the first major trophy of his career having lost in three cup finals with Spurs.
He was ineffective in the 2019 Champions League final against Liverpool and this year’s Carabao Cup defeat by Manchester City, having been rushed back for those games after injury.
However, the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner goes into tonight’s showpiece in much better shape. He’s recovered from a slow start to the Euros by scoring against Germany, Ukraine (twice) and Denmark in consecutive games.
‘I picked up injuries before, so my focus was actually on getting fit maybe more than the finals themselves,’ he concedes.
‘It’s nice to be in this final free in the mind and coming off scoring for a few games in a row as well. I feel confident and the team is in a good place with a real self-belief.
‘We feel we can beat any team we play. It’s just about going out there and executing it on the biggest stage under the biggest pressure.
‘We have done that amazingly so far in this tournament. When the pressure has been on, we’ve really stepped up to the mark. It’s about doing what we’ve learned over the last four or five years as a group, being calm and ruthless as well. That is what we will need against Italy.’
Victory and another Kane goal to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick as the tournament’s leading scorer will put him in the conversation with Wayne Rooney, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer as England’s greatest-ever striker.
He could also join 1966 hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst as the only Englishman to have netted a winning goal in a major final.
‘As a striker, you dream of being the one who scores the goal that wins a major game. I was fortunate enough to do that in the semi-final against Denmark but if it’s not me who scores, it doesn’t matter as long as we win.’
Legendary Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, who will captain his side tonight once mocked Kane’s Spurs for ‘never arriving’ after Juventus had beaten them in the Champions League. The England striker remembers the jibe but diplomatically refused to light the touchpaper even further. ‘My focus isn’t on him, or that. It’s on the game as a whole. The battle isn’t just me v Chiellini. He is a respected footballer, a fantastic player, so I am looking forward to another battle.
‘You want to play against the best defenders in the world and Italy’s two centrehalves (Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci) are definitely that.’
Shearer left Blackburn for Newcastle for a world-record £15million after he top-scored at Euro 96. There is huge speculation about Kane’s club future, with Manchester City and Manchester United heavily interested.
But for now, pleasing the England fans is uppermost in his mind with the tournament creating some incredible atmospheres at Wembley.
‘The fans have been a key part of this. We want the country to look at us and be proud of what we are doing on and off the pitch,’ he said.
‘We had that in Russia, we felt like we reconnected with our fans then and this tournament was about going one step further.’
He added: ‘Many of us know that this game will be the biggest game of our careers.
‘Italy are on a long unbeaten run, they are great defensively and are obviously quite clinical at the other end as well.
‘We have worked tactically on how to approach the game, we have seen their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said, we really do have full belief in ourselves.’