Kane has time on his side to chase Rooney record – Southgate

Harry Kane has time on his side to chase Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record, says manager Gareth Southgate, who believes team success matters more to the Tottenham striker.

Kane is set to win his 50th cap for the Three Lions on Sunday when England visit Belgium in the Nations League.

The Spurs star already has 32 goals to his name for his country, putting him 21 behind Manchester United legend Rooney.

Still only 27, Kane has a lot of international football ahead of him, giving him a clear opportunity to overhaul Rooney and cement his place as England’s greatest ever goalscorer.

“In terms of what’s possible, I think the goalscoring record is the real interesting one,” Southgate told a media conference.

“His strike rate for us is quite phenomenal really. He’s got time on his side to crack on and chase Wayne’s record, which would be a remarkable feat in itself.

Running off to watch The Masters pic.twitter.com/Ak8tKYhUpi

— Harry Kane (@HKane) November 13, 2020

“I know from his perspective, whilst personal achievement is something he’s driven towards he’s all about the team winning now, he’s been to a World Cup, won the Golden Boot, in the end you want to win as a team.

“He’s totally focused on that and the team having success. He would want in the next few years to be able to look back on the team having achieved, as well as some of those personal milestones.”

Asked about his favourite moment from his time coaching Kane for England, Southgate pointed to his injury-time equaliser against Scotland at Hampden Park during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, where he went on to win the Golden Boot with six goals as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals.

“The equaliser at Hampden sticks in my mind, that was a very important goal for us at a critical moment,” said Southgate.

“Of course, his goals at the World Cup, to win the Golden Boot is an incredible personal achievement.

“There have been so many. It’s a special moment for him, we’ve had three or four players get to that 50-cap milestone in the last year or so, for all of them it’s a fantastic achievement.”