The World Cup provides a stage for players to make a name for themselves and Harry Kane looks set to take his career on a step further this summer. The England captain was spoken about as one of the main hopes for his national team this summer and was given the armband to reflect his status. However, there were many that had doubts regarding his capabilities of carrying the hopes of his nation. The early indications are good as he leads the goal-scoring charts after two rounds of fixtures with five goals.
Although his critics will point to the quality of the opposition, he has cashed in and started the tournament in the most positive way possible. Momentum can be crucial in major tournaments and Kane now has that behind him with the added vigour to make further headlines this summer. England have scored the joint-most amount goals in the World Cup to date and their captain has been central to that. There haven’t been any wonder goals, but he continues to be in the right place at the right time and that anticipation is why he is one of the best strikers in the world.
During the match against Panama, Kane didn’t stand out as one of the best players on the pitch, but he finished the match with a hat-trick and it is his goal-scoring ability that allows him to stand out from the rest. Even when he doesn’t influence the game in a huge way, he manages to find the back of the net. His first two goals showed his excellent composure in front of goal as he had two opportunities to score from the spot. On both occasions, he had to wait a long time to strike the spot-kick, but he made no mistake. A lot of England players in the past would have panicked, but the Tottenham striker didn’t.
There has been a lot of hype around Harry Kane in England for a while, as he has consistently scored goals in the Premier League after breaking through in North London. He has now scored more than 20 goals in four successive seasons and his number of goals scored increases year on year. This past season, he managed to hit 30 in the league for the first time and was only denied a golden boot by the extraordinary exploits of Mohamed Salah.
His goal-scoring in the Premier League was enough to establish him as one of the best domestically, but he needed to prove himself on a global stage to be considered world class. The Champions League was his next challenge and he managed to score two in three during his debut season in the competition during the 2016/17 campaign. Tottenham disappointed and Kane didn’t really get a chance to prove himself. However, last season, he managed to score seven in seven including goals against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.
It was another year of progression for Kane and he looks set to cap his season off as one of the best players at the World Cup. The job isn’t finished yet for Kane, as he needs to continue scoring goals and help England get as far as they can. If they manage to beat the odds and get to the latter stages of the competition with the captain finding the net with regularity, there will be no doubting that the 24-year-old is world class.
