LONDON –
Awarded the golden boot before kick-off, Harry Kane’s golden touch continued for England on Sunday as he scored his country’s record-long 55th goal.
The Tottenham forward surpassed Wayne Rooney to become the top scorer for the Three Lions with a penalty in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Italy in Napoli.
Back at Wembley, he got the chance to celebrate in front of his home fans with another goal in England’s 2–0 win over Ukraine in a European Championship qualifier.
Kane scored in the 37th minute, turning Bukayo Saka’s pass wide of the post.
Three minutes later, Saka scored the opening goal on his own as he turned around the edge of the box and fired a shot into the top corner of the goal.
With that, England effectively won and secured 100% of their Euro 2024 qualifying spot, which was an impressive response to the disappointment of being eliminated from last year’s World Cup in the quarterfinals. conclude.
Kane, whose penalty miss in the 2-1 loss to France proved too expensive in Qatar, has also proven he is not haunted by one of the most painful moments of his career. me.
While he is still waiting to win his first trophy for club or country, individual trophies keep coming.
In February, he overtook the late Jimmy Greaves to become Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer. In international football, he equaled Rooney’s total goals at the World Cup before setting a new record against Italy.
The Football Association of England marked that achievement ahead of the match against Ukraine when their president, Debbie Hewitt, presented Kane with a commemorative golden boot. For the match, Kane also wore Nike shoes with gold brackets on the side.
His desire to further extend his record was immediately evident as he searched for more goals.
There was an early penalty when Kane hit the ground in the box and then an unusually long shot just yards from goal.
However, he did not have to wait long to get his latest goal in an England shirt. Drifting to the far post, he was in the perfect position to catch Saka’s pass, scoring one of the easiest goals he could score.
The same cannot be said of Saka’s efforts. First, the Arsenal forward showed off his control as he spun with the ball at his feet for Mykola Matviyenko to follow. He then looked up before picking out the top corner of Anatoliy Trubin’s goal.
Ukraine never seemed to find its way back into the game after conceding twice in a row quickly. However, it was cheered throughout by a team of about 4,200 fans.
The FA invited more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to the match, as well as the families hosting them under the UK government’s Housing for Ukraine Programme.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 Ukrainians have come to the UK since the war with Russia began last year. Before the game began, Ukraine’s fans sang along to the country’s emotional anthem, with one corner of Wembley filled with the blue and yellow of the national flag.
Despite outnumbering the crowd of about 85,000, away supporters made sure they were heard as they chanted and sang for their team.
It was Kane who left England fans on edge as he continued to set new standards in front of goal.
