Kane ready to lead England to victory

Captain insists whole team are ready for the challenge and eager to make history

HARRY Kane insists he is ready for the challenge of leading England to World Cup glory a feat which could land him a second Golden Boot in the process.

The Tottenham striker captained England to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the final of Euro 2020.

Now he is in Qatar looking to make it third time lucky and end the nation’s 54-year wait for a major men’s trophy. With England opening their campaign against Iran today, Kane said he is ready to seize the moment in the Middle East.

“Of course it’s going to be really hard and a big challenge, but I’m ready for that challenge,” he said. “You cannot take anything for granted in football. I was lucky enough to play in 2018 in the World Cup and had an amazing experience and a great tournament and in football a lot can change very quickly.

“You have to appreciate these moments, for sure, and I’m really looking forward to this one because we’ve got a really good team, a great blend of experience and youth.”

Having ended the 2018 World Cup as the highest goalscorer, Kane, pictured, will be aiming to retain the award in Qatar - something that has never been achieved. The Tottenham striker has 51 England goals, just two fewer than record-holder Wayne Rooney, but will put the team’s targets ahead of his own.*

“Of course, it would be a great thing to achieve. I was able to do it in 2018 and it helped the team to get to a semifinal,” he added. “I know if I won it again this year it means that hopefully the team is doing pretty well and we’re going pretty far which is the most important thing.”

Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that England players will take the knee ahead of their opening World Cup match. He also said all the players other than James Maddison are set to be available. He said: “It’s a little bit early for Kyle Walker but he’s training with the team, so that’s ahead of where we thought he might be at this stage.”

England will also play the United States and Wales in Group B and Southgate added: “The group is very tight in terms of the world rankings so it’s the hardest and at the beginning everyone has optimism and hope, so always the margins are close in the opening matches. We’ve navigated that well in our last two tournaments but both games were really tight and everybody wants to win the first game.

“The objective is to get out of the group, however you manage to do that, and that’s our first objective.”