One step ahead:
“I’ve got to
work harder than
anyone else”comes with being one of the best
players. In his prime, that’s how
it worked for Beckham.”
Kane is too modest to say so,
but with a Hugo Boss campaign
under his belt, it’s how it seems
to be working out for him, too.
And it’s clear that he is playing it
down – it’s not lost on theMen’s
Healthstylist that the footballer
has a keen eye for when his suit
trousers don’t it properly, or
don’t match the jacket that they
come with.
A recurring theme inBrave
New World, Mauricio Pochettino’s
2017 book with Spanish football
number of goals he wants to
score, keeping them to himself
while reviewing the results and
revising his strategy. Trite as it
might sound, his loans out were
the making of him – but only
because of his self-belief and a
competitiveness that goes back
to his relationship with his elder
brother, Charlie. “As a kid, I
hated losing,” says Kane. “I used
to cry a lot.”
If Kane misses a chance today,
he doesn’t cry; instead, he tells
himself that his likelihood of
missing another is reduced – a
hack he learned from the former
Spurs striker Jermain Defoe. It’s
questionable as an analysis of
probability, yet smart in terms
of psychology. Against Liverpool
at Anield in February, Kane
missed an 87th-minute penalty,
which would have made it 2-1
to Spurs and marked his 100th
Premier League goal. When
Liverpool’s Mo Salah scored a
91st-minute wonder goal, the
camera zoomed in on Kane’s
anguished face. Then Spurs
were given a 94th-minute
penalty. Rather than hide, Kane
decisively equalised. At full
time, he turned to the camera
and said: “You can’t give me two
tries.” If the FIFA video games
had a stat for “mentality”, he’d
have a perfect 99.
“I’ve got to where I am by
working hard. But now I have
to work even harder to stay
here,” says Kane, “because
there’s that next person who
wants to take my position.
That’s my mindset: someone
is always trying to be better
than me, so I’ve got to make
sure I work harder than anyone
else.” Right now, it seems
inconceivable that he’ll be
usurped any time soon. But
then, if anyone could believe
that another unassuming young
journeyman could rise from
obscurity to become the leading
light of English and European
football, it’s Harry Kane.Harry Kane is an ambassador
for BOSS Bottled United
Fragrance #BOSSUNITEDjournalist Guillem Balagué, is
that too many footballers lack
motivation – at least, of the right
kind. “If as a player you lose your
passion for the game or your
love for being in contact with the
ball,” Pochettino writes, “if you
use football as a way of achieving
otherthings (money, being in the
press, enjoying perks, Twitter
followers...), if you like all that
more than training or sharing
moments with your teammates,
if running or going to the gym
bores you, if you don’t fancy
taking care about what you eat or
the amount you rest or ifyou don’t keep yourself in
good shape, you should revisit
your targets.”
There is an exception. “I
believe Harry Kane is the best
player in the world in terms of
mental strength, willpower and
endeavour,” writes Pochettino.
“He is completely focused on
his football. He has a house in
Essex but spends the week at
another one that he owns closer
to the training ground. He’s
the irst person to arrive and the
last to leave.”
Kane regularly sets himself
“little targets”, such as thePremier League goals that
Kane reached in February- Only 27 players have
ever reached this milestone.
Kane is the second-fastest to
do so, behind Alan Shearer