When his teammates celebrated the early European Championship ticket to “Sweet Caroline” in a full Wembley Stadium, Harry Kane was once again in demand at the microphone. The FC Bayern Munich striker has been the national team’s figurehead as captain for years – and since Tuesday evening also England’s top scorer in the huge arena in London.
“It’s easy to underestimate him because we’ve had him at the highest level for so long. “He’s a top-level player,” said national coach Gareth Southgate, praising his captain, who once again stood out in the 3-1 win against defending champions Italy. Co-favorites England have already qualified for the 2024 European Championships in Germany.
Kane: “One of the best feelings ever”
With his goals 23 and 24 at Wembley, which were goals 60 and 61 overall for the national team, the 30-year-old moved past Bobby Charlton in these statistics. National coach Southgate also sees the move of his leading player to Munich as a benefit for his own team. “He has to win every week at Bayern now. It’s a different form of pressure. But he also enjoys coming back to England. He is very close with all his teammates. “He’s a brilliant role model,” Southgate noted. Top transfer Kane, for whom the Munich team paid 100 million euros, also got off to a good start to the season with the German record champions.
Kane himself didn’t want to set his Wembley record too high in front of 83,194 spectators, but he was emotionally moved. “I love playing here in this stadium. Wembley is our home. We have made it a real fortress over the years.” It is “always special to perform in front of our own fans. Of course, scoring at home is one of the best feelings ever,” said the striker. Kane, who now has 27 goals in his last 30 appearances for England, said about qualifying for the European Championship: “Qualification is never easy. Sometimes we’re just expected to go to the big tournaments – but we’ve seen in the past that it’s not as easy as it looks.”
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In the games against Malta (November 17th) and in North Macedonia (November 20th), group winners England are only concerned with a good starting position for the European Championship draw on December 2nd in Hamburg.
