England: Harry Kane ‘Ready’ for Captaincy
Tottenham Hotspur’s star striker and English international, Harry Kane, said that he is ‘ready’ to lead his country on an international level.
England will face off against Scotland on Saturday in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match.
This will be the first time that Kane will play for England since September of last year, having sat out six international games due to injuries.
It will also be his first time playing under new England manager, Gareth Southgate.
Southgate has only had good things to say about Kane, telling reporters recently that the 23-year-old has ‘strong leadership qualities’ despite his youth. He also praised his commitment to the game.
“What has always impressed me about Harry is his mentality to be the best he can possibly be. The great thing is that he wants to know more about his nutrition, his athletic training or whatever it is. He is so focused on how he gets better and better all the time,” he said.
Kane responded to Southgate’s praise, saying: “It’s fantastic to hear. Any player growing up as a footballer dreams of being England captain one day and I am no different.”
Should Kane be named captain, he will replace English stalwart, Wayne Rooney, whom Southgate has been slowly phasing out.
When asked about the possibility of leading England, Kane said that he is confident in his abilities.
“I’ve been captain for Spurs a few times. You wear an armband and it gets built up a lot to be a captain…It is a fantastic thing, but in this team – and in this day and age – there should be more than just one leader out there…For me, I don’t think it would [be too early to be captain], but that is a matter of opinion really [sic],” he said.
Kane was the top goal scorer of the 2016/2017 English Premier League, scoring 29 goals and helping his team finish second on the log. He was awarded the Golden Boot Award for the second consecutive year.
