“It’s emotional thinking about the game even now – I remember
getting a bit emotional in the interview afterwards, just hearing the
fans singing. It was a tough time for the world, for our country after
COVID, and to see everyone out there enjoying it was amazing. When
the second goal went in... even when the first one went in, you just
saw bodies flying all over the place all around the stadium, everyone
going absolutely nuts.
“Then you see the videos afterwards of people in the pubs, people
on the streets. Just knowing that you’re bringing the country together
is a really special feeling. Major tournaments do that. Whenever you’re
at one, you have that opportunity.”
Eight days after that Germany joy, Kane was stood at the opposite
end of Wembley, taking the biggest kick of his life. In the first half of
extra time against Denmark, England won a penalty to put them on
the brink of a historic major tournament final. Up stepped their star
striker – no pressure, Harry...
“Obviously I’m someone who takes penalties a lot, and I practise
them a lot,” he reveals. “So when I get a penalty, of course it’s nerve-
wracking, but once I put the ball down, I go into my routine. I do the
same thing every game, every time I have a penalty, so I go into my
own zone. It was a tough game, it was extra time, so the body was
tired and I didn’t hit it how I wanted to. That sometimes happens.”
As the ball moved towards the bottom corner of the goal, so too
did goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Did he experience a split-second
feeling of horror, as he realised Schmeichel was going to save it?
“I don’t think there was enough time!” he chuckles. “It all happensLineker himself, England’s only previous winner of the award. “When
you think of the players who’ve played in World Cups, and the players
who were playing in that World Cup in 2018, to get the Golden Boot
in my first was incredible,” he reflects. “It holds a special place in my
heart.” Not least because it helped England to reach a first World Cup
semi-final since 1990.
If the 2018 World Cup delivered many memorable moments for the
Three Lions, Euro 2020 produced even more of them. The striker was
coming under increasing scrutiny midway through last summer – such
is his outstanding strike rate for club and country, all it took was three
games without a goal in the group stage for a nation to start asking,
‘What’s up with Harry Kane?’
The answer was nothing. Nothing at all. No one should have been
surprised when he sprang into life with four goals in the next three
matches, hauling England into a first final since ’66, and ending up
one behind top scorers Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick.
It’s the victory over Germany in the last 16 that he describes as the
other top-three moment from his England career so far, given the
scenes around Wembley when his header sealed the win. “There was
a lot of pressure on that match, a lot of anticipation – being at home
and playing against a very good Germany side,” he explains. “To come
through that and score, to show that we’re here and we can do it in
the big tournaments against the big teams, that was a very special
moment. Anyone who was at the game or watched it on TV will know.
The crowd were going crazy, and Sweet Caroline after the game... it
gave me goosebumps.
HARRY
KAn E