Kane Admits Ego, Targets 100 England Goals After 73-Goal Season

• England captain Harry Kane says he has an ego to be the best but does not show it off, per Daily Mail.
• Kane has 91 England goals and wants to reach 100 as quickly as possible.
• His biggest fear is finishing his career thinking he could have done a bit more.

Why England’s Calm Captain Says He Still Has Something to Prove

Harry Kane is known as the humble one. He fiddled with his suit buttons through his Ballon d’Or acceptance speech and laughs when reminded of it. Asked about his ego, the England captain joked first, then answered.

“That’s a great question. I’m sure my wife will be able to say a thing or two!” he replied. “But ego is funny, because ego is many different things. I guess I have an ego to be the best, because I want to be the best. I just don’t do it in a show-off way.”

A Record Cap and a Bigger Number to Chase

Kane’s ego shows up in records. He equalled Peter Shilton’s record of 125 caps against the Czech Republic in October, and a 126th cap against Croatia on Thursday night would make him England’s most-capped player, on top of the goal record he already holds. Last season he played more games and scored more goals than Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal.

At England’s base at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground, he spoke about the younger members of the squad. “Jude (Bellingham) and Declan (Rice), they’re on 60-odd caps already and you look at how young they are,” Kane said. “So I’ll try and give them a good number to catch! The goal record (currently 91) is going to be the one that’s difficult to beat. I think that’s good!”

A Career Built on Proving People Wrong

Kane was billed as a one-season wonder after his 31-goal breakthrough campaign at Tottenham 11 years ago. He remembers that, and he remembers Arsenal rejecting him at eight, his missed penalty against France at the 2022 World Cup, the loan at Norwich that ended with him in the reserves and the loan at Leicester where he sat alone in his flat and wondered whether he was good enough for the Premier League.

“I’ve had to prove people wrong my whole career,” he said. “If someone tells me I can’t do something, it motivates me to do it more. You look at all the great athletes, Tom Brady and that unwavering mentality to be the best. Maybe with me, because I’m a calm person and you don’t see the ego of some of these great players, it doesn’t mean I don’t want it as much as everyone else. It doesn’t mean I don’t put in the work and drive myself and everyone around me to be the best.”

He listed what drove him. “Getting released that early (by Arsenal) and proving them wrong. Proving my early coaches at Tottenham wrong, who I wasn’t playing as much under. Loan moves that didn’t go well. The World Cup in Qatar, missing that penalty was a really tough moment for me. After that, I scored the next 30 penalties! It’s the same thing, “I’m going to show them”, using all the negative stuff as motivation to push me to another level.”

Euro 2024 brought another test. Kane was substituted after an hour of the final defeat by Spain, and the popular view was that his best days were behind him and England needed a new striker. He has scored 25 goals in 27 international games after that final.

“It was tough, getting taken off in a final,” he said. “There was so much talk (before the final) around, “Maybe Harry shouldn’t start”. I was like, “Well hang on a minute, I’m doing my best for the team here”.”

“I scored three goals and was joint for the Golden Boot. It wasn’t like there were many other players doing crazy stuff that I wasn’t doing. But from my own standards, I know I probably didn’t quite reach the level that I could have. I don’t think the team reached the level that we could have. After that, my position was under pressure. That motivated me to make sure that it wasn’t. I was going to have to do even more to keep my place. From that moment, you’ve seen an improvement in me.”

No Time to Rest

The Bayern Munich striker sees no finish line. “In football, you’ve never completed it,” Kane said. “No matter what you’ve achieved, there is always a trophy that someone else has won or a goal record that someone else has. This is no time to rest. If anything, I’ve got better year on year, and the numbers have got better. While I’m feeling like this, why would I put any limit on myself? I’m just on the back of scoring 73 goals in one year, which is incredible, and I want to get 100 England goals as quickly as possible.”

Kane is the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, the first Englishman to take the award in 25 years. Rice, one of the two teammates he wants to leave a number to catch, had backed Kane for the Ballon d’Or before the vote. Nine more goals would take Kane from 91 to 100 for his country.

Behind all of it sits one fear.

“My biggest fear is finishing my career and thinking I could have done a bit more. I want to make sure that I cross every bridge and do everything possible so that, whenever that day comes, I can say, “I’ve done everything possible. I have this record, I don’t have this record, but it doesn’t matter, I can sleep well at night”.”