Harry Kane wants to play England’s final two Nations League games this month as he bids to overtake Wayne Rooney as the country’s record goalscorer.
Kane scored his 50th goal for England last night, overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton in the all-time standings, with his late penalty earning Gareth Southgate’s side a 1-1 draw against Germany. Rooney’s record of 53 England goals is now firmly in Kane’s sights and, despite a long season for Tottenham, he is hungry to start the next two games as he looks to make history.
England host Italy on Saturday before taking on Hungary next Tuesday, meaning Kane has the chance to break Rooney’s record before the summer break and the World Cup in Qatar later this year. “Of course I want to play every game possible,” he said. “No [I haven’t told Southgate], but he knows that for sure. He knows that.
“But, look, we have a World Cup in not long so he has to look at players maybe and see who he wants in the squad and to be a part of that.
“As a player I’ll always be ready to play so we’ll see what happens. We will travel back to England, recover well for the game on Saturday and whether I’m starting or on the bench, I’ll be ready to go.”
Kane’s goal was a landmark one for him and a vital one for England too, who were staring down the barrel of a second defeat on the spin after losing to Hungary last Saturday.
Jonas Hofmann put Germany ahead in the 50th minute and the hosts dominated large parts of the game. England, however, managed to improve in the final 20 minutes with the introduction of Jack Grealish and Jarrod Bowen off the bench making a big impact.
Southgate’s side eventually snatched an equaliser with two minutes to go as VAR intervened and advised referee Carlos del Cerro Grande to award a penalty after Nico Schlotterbeck caught Kane, who made no mistake form the spot.
“I think it showed the character in the squad,” said Kane. “I think we probably played our best football in that last kind of half hour of the game. Physically, I felt we were strong, created some good chances at the end. We’ve going to keep working, we know we’ve got improvement to be had.
“We’re still learning, we’re still working. We’ve got stuff to improve on for sure until the World Cup. But I think today was a good test and it shows where we are physically and mentally against a very good side.
“Whenever you play England v Germany it’s always a massive game for us, for the fans, for the country back home. No matter the game, the competition, you want to win and make your fans proud.”
Kane was delighted to reach the landmark number of 50 goals for England, particularly against Germany in a stadium like the Allianz Arena, but he will not dwell on the achievement for long.
“I’ve always said absolutely it is a fantastic achievement to have but we’ve got another big game on Saturday that we’ve got to dust ourselves down and get ready for,” he added.
“I’m sure all these things when I’m when I’m old and grey I’ll look back and take in. But for now it’s just trying to help the team, recover well, and get ready for the next one.”
