England captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is poised to break a multitude of Three Lions records in Sunday’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.
Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane is poised to break a handful of England records when the Three Lions tackle Serbia in Sunday’s Euro 2024 Group C opener at the Veltins-Arena.
In what may be Gareth Southgate‘s final chance to deliver an elusive major trophy to the English football faithful, Kane will lead his team out as captain yet again in the final game of the day.
Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time top goalscorer returns to his adopted home on the back of a phenomenal season with Bayern Munich, where he struck 44 goals in just 45 games, as well as providing 12 assists.
Kane comfortably topped the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with 36 efforts from 32 matches, although the silverware tick box on his CV is yet to be filled owing to Bayer Leverkusen’s astonishing run to title glory.
Now 30 years of age and with no major team honour to show for his astounding goalscoring exploits, Kane’s desire for national team glory burns brighter than ever, especially in the wake of England’s excruciating loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
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Kane to earn three slices of history in Serbia clash
Already the all-time leading scorer for his country – male or female – Kane will be leading England out for Sunday’s clash with Serbia, barring an unforeseen last-minute injury or illness scare.
In doing so, the 30-year-old will break another three national team records, firstly playing his 12th match for England at the European Championships, a feat no man before him has ever achieved.
Kane’s current total of 11 is the same number that Gary Neville managed, although the former Manchester United right-back was denied a 12th due to suspension, missing the Three Lions’ Euro 1996 semi-final loss to Germany.
The Bayern Munich talisman is also poised to play his 23rd major tournament match for England – also a new all-time high – as well as becoming the first man to captain the Three Lions in four separate major tournaments.
Kane, who also donned the captain’s armband for the 2022 World Cup, Euro 2020 and the 2018 World Cup, told the official UEFA website that leading his team out is the “highest privilege” that he could experience while also commenting on his team’s chances of Euros stardom.
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Kane: ‘Captaining England is one-of-a-kind feeling’
“Being England captain and leading the boys out is probably the highest privilege I can have as a player, and I’ll never take that for granted,” the former Spurs striker said.
“That feeling is truly one of a kind. It’s an honour to do it for a fourth time. We’ve had a semi-final, a final and a quarter-final, so I’m hoping we go to the very end and go on and win.
“We’ve had some really good moments, and I’ve personally had some really good moments, but ultimately we’re here to win a EURO, and that’s hopefully what we can do.”
As well as rewriting a few pages of history, Kane will play his 92nd senior match for England at the Veltins-Arena, where the Three Lions will tackle Serbia for the first time since the latter became independent.
All 26 of Southgate’s players have trained ahead of the match, including the recently ill John Stones and muscle victim Luke Shaw, but the latter is not expected to be involved just yet.
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