Harry Kane salutes ‘inspirational’ Cristiano Ronaldo as he insists he has no plans to slow down on the eve of becoming the TENTH man to earn 100 caps for England – and he’s set to debut some flashy footwear to mark the occasion
Harry Kane already has his sights set on his next England prospect and is using Cristiano Ronaldo as motivation after winning his 100th cap for the Three Lions.
The Bayern Munich star will become only the 10th male footballer to reach the 100th England cap when he leads the team against Finland at Wembley.
Kane has already made his mark on the country’s history books when he became England’s all-time top scorer in March last year, and has increased his tally by 12 in the past 18 months.
But ahead of the Nations League match, he stressed that he has no intention of slowing down, citing 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who this week passed 900 career goals, as his inspiration.
“I feel in good physical and mental shape at the peak of my career,” he said. “When you see other players, like Ronaldo who scored his 901st goal yesterday, and you see him competing at the age of 39, it inspires me to play as long as possible.
Harry Kane insisted he doesn’t want to slow down as he approaches his 100th England cap
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal for Portugal in the closing stages, taking his career goal tally to 901
The 31-year-old will wear a pair of gold boots at Wembley on Tuesday to mark the special occasion
“I love this game, I love representing England more than anything and I don’t want it to end any time soon. For me now it’s about continuing to improve and being consistent, both in an England shirt and at club level, and I always will be.
‘Who knows how many caps or goals I can get, but I’m hungry for more. I’m determined to keep pushing the boundaries.’
Kane will be presented with a commemorative gold cap in the capital to mark the occasion, which he will pair with a special pair of gold boots.
The former Tottenham man made his debut in the eye-catching boots during training at St George’s Park on Monday afternoon. Kane will be looking to extend his tally at the top of the Three Lions’ scoring charts after failing to score in England’s 2-0 win over Ireland on Saturday.
His 100th appearance came nine years after his debut against Lithuania in March 2015.
The match at Wembley will also be the first time that home fans will see interim manager Lee Carsley in the dugout.
England interim manager Lee Carsley has announced he will make a number of changes for the visit of Finland
The Three Lions will be hoping for back-to-back wins in their opening Nations League games
The 50-year-old player is expected to be the eventual successor to Gareth Southgate, unless he performs surprisingly well in England’s Nations League.
Carsley revealed he will make up to three changes to the team that sailed to victory in Dublin, with Noni Madueke and Tino Livramento hoping to get their first taste of senior action.