Harry Kane wins his 100th cap for England

by Mick the Ram

Harry Kane become the 10th man to make 100 appearances for the England when he led his side out against Finland in a Nations League game at Wembley stadium.

He marked the occasion by scoring twice to take his tally to 68 goals for his country, in their comfortable 2-0 victory.

The 31-year-old received a standing ovation from the crowd when he was substituted with ten minutes left.

Prior to the game fellow centurions Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard were part of a presentation team who handed the Three Lions captain a special golden cap, before his wife and children joined him on the pitch for photographs.

Two goals made it even more special

In his pre-match conference, Kane admitted the milestone was special to him, and was keen to match the exploits of two other centurions – Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton – who both scored on the occasion of their 100th cap.

He not only matched them, but went one better by netting a brace.

Hat-trick would have been better!

Both goals came in the second half, although he actually thought he’d broke the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes when he headed home in the 25th minute, only to be denied by an offside flag.

His big moment arrived 12 minutes after the break when he smashed a right foot shot high into the roof of net from just inside the box. He followed that up 15 minutes from time, pulling off his marker to stroke home from a similar position to his first.

He was probably a little frustrated when he was withdrawn with ten minutes still to play, denying him the opportunity to claim a hat-trick, which would have been a record-equalling sixth for his country (currently held by Jimmy Greaves), but nevertheless, he was clearly pleased with his nights work.

Silence the critics

His consistency since making his debut back in 2015 has been remarkable. On that day he scored just 79 seconds after coming off the bench and he has proved pretty much impossible to leave out ever since.

He continues to improve his record as leading all-time scorer for England, and he will be happy to have silenced some critics, who questioned his selection during the Euro’s in the summer.

Afterwards he was clearly pleased: “It was a big night for me, I am really proud. Whenever you are doubted, it makes you more hungry to prove people wrong. I always back myself to score goals and I am excited for the future.”

No intention of stopping just yet

Before the match Kane said he felt physically and mentally in good shape, and at the peak of his career.

He reference Ronaldo who incredibly took his goals tally to an astonishing 901 just last weekend, at the ripe old age of 39, and said it inspired him to continue for as long as possible.

Plenty of highlights

Amongst Kane’s highlights during his journey to 100 caps would be winning the 2018 Golden Bootwith six goals as England reached the World Cup semi-finals, before falling just short in an extra time defeat to Croatia.

Then there were the two European Championship finals in 2021 and 2024, although each sadly ended in defeat, to Italy and Spain respectively.

Main striker for four England managers

His 100 caps have come under four different managers. After being handed first cap by Roy Hodgson, he went on to play a total of 16 games for him, scoring five goals.

He was in the side for Sam Allardyce’s one and only game in charge back in 2016, before making 81 appearances and scoring 61 goals under Gareth Southgate’s stewardship.

He has now played in both of Lee Carsley’s games, after starting in the 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland at the weekend for his 99th cap.

Not out of place in an impressive list

The Bayern Munich striker joins quite an illustrious list of players to pass the one hundred cap mark. The already mentioned Wayne Rooney went on to earn 120 caps, putting him second in the all-time appearance list behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who reached 125.

Billy Wright (105) was the first to reach the landmark, followed by Bobby Charlton who went one better. Bobby Moore made 108 appearances and more recently, David Beckham (115), Steven Gerrard (114), Ashley Cole (107), and Frank Lampard (106) also passed the special total.

Paying his respects to the other nine players, Kane said: “When you look at the list they are some of our greatest players. I’m sure when I’m retired I’ll look back on this with immense pride.”