Harry Kane completed his hundred caps against Finland and celebrated by scoring two goals. England’s all-time goalscorer admires Cristiano Ronaldo.
England men’s national football team’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane played his 100th senior international match against Finland on Tuesday.
Kane was presented with a golden cap at Wembley before the kick-off to mark the milestone, which the forward accepted with his family.
To celebrate, Kane also wore gold studded shoes in the match – and scored two goals. He now has 68 of them in his national team career.
– I don’t think I even thought I’d make 100 caps when I was on loan at Millwall, Norwich or Leicester, Kane, 31, recalled early career for the BBC.
Kane has been criticized from time to time, as for example in the summer European Championships, where the Bayern striker was not at his best, even though he scored three goals. Kane said that nowadays players face a lot of criticism and there is constant debate about their moves.
– I’ve always said that when things don’t go as you’d like, you can get motivation from it to brace yourself for a blow. In October, I will be ready again, Kane acknowledged and at the same time pointed to the next international match window.
England’s head coach Lee Carsley and Kane’s national teammates cheered the hero after the match.
– He deserves all the applause. I have noticed, this week, that he is really motivated to play for England and score goals. The fact that we have such a central striker… I hope the same trend continues, Carsley said According to The Guardian.
– One hundred international matches is a special achievement. That’s what we all dream of. He should be really proud of that. It’s been great to be involved in this, the Liverpool star who made strong preparations for Kane’s goals Trent Alexander-Arnold said to .
Until a couple of days ago, Kane didn’t know that he would be celebrating his milestone against Finland in September.
BBC reporter Ian Dennis said that Kane was under the impression on Friday that the celebratory match would be played in October, because Kane was not sure if he would be in the lineup against Finland.
– That’s why everything went down to the last minute. His family was still in Munich on Monday, but his wife Kate and three of the four children traveled to London on Tuesday, Dennis said.
Peter Shilton, 125 matches
Wayne Rooney 120
David Beckham 115
Steven Gerrard 114
Bobby Moore 108
Ashley Cole 107
Bobby Charlton 106
Frank Lampard 106
Billy Wright 105
Harry Kane 100
Like Ronaldo
Kane joined the rare group of players who have played three figures for the England national team.
Apart from Kane, only two English players have managed to score in their 100th international match. Wayne Rooney hit against Slovenia in 2014 and Bobby Charlton Northern Ireland net 1970. No one else has scored two goals in a celebratory game.
– The list includes our greatest players of all time. “I’m sure when I finish playing I’ll look back on this with pride,” Kane said.
Kane said his next goal is an ambitious one: 100 goals for the national team.
– It is definitely possible. Some people think that’s unrealistic, but I’d rather try something like settle for 70 or 80 goals.
Last week in Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 900th goal of his professional career at the age of 39 and improved his tally to 901 against Scotland.
– When I watched Ronaldo score the 901st goal of his career on Sunday at that age, it inspired me to continue as long as possible. I love this sport and representing England more than anything and I don’t want to stop. I’m hungry and I want to reach new levels, Kane said.
Sources: BBC, The Guardian.