London –
Harry Kane’s golden touch, presented with the golden boot before kick-off, continued in England on Sunday, when he scored his record-breaking 55th goal in his home country.
The Tottenham striker had already surpassed Wayne Rooney as the Three Lions’ outright scorer thanks to his penalties 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 qualifying match.
Kane scored in the 37th minute with Bukayo Saka’s cross at the far post.
Three minutes later, Saka scored with a shot from the corner of the goal area.
This effectively gave England a win and a 100% qualification to Euro 2024. It was a striking response to the disappointment of losing in the quarterfinals at last year’s World Cup.
Kane, whose penalty mistake in the 2-1 loss to France cost him dearly in Qatar, also proved he wasn’t suffering from a hangover from one of the toughest moments of his career. bottom.
He’s still waiting to win his first trophy for club or country, but the personal accolades continue.
In February, he overtook the late Jimmy Greaves to become Tottenham’s all-time top scorer. In international football, he equaled Rooney’s England total at the World Cup before setting a new record against Italy.
English Football Associates showed their accomplishments before kickoff against Ukraine when chairman Debbie Hewitt presented Kane with a commemorative golden boot. In the match, Kane also wore his Nike boots with a gold Swoosh on the side.
When he went in search of more goals, his thirst for furthering his record soon became apparent.
There was an early penalty claim when Kane hit the ground inside the box, and an unusual air shot just a few meters from the goal.
But he didn’t have to wait long for his latest strike in the England colors. did it.
The same cannot be said for Saka’s efforts. First, the Arsenal forward showed his control when he put the ball at his feet and spun it to pull off Mykola Matvienko. He then looked up before picking up the top corner of Anatoly Turbin’s goal.
Ukraine seemed unable to find a way back into the game after conceding two goals in quick succession. Still, he was cheered throughout by some 4,200 away fans of his team.
The FA invited more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees and the families hosting them under the UK government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme to the match.
More than 150,000 Ukrainians are estimated to have arrived in Britain since the war with Russia began last year. Ahead of kick-off, Ukrainian fans sang along to a moving rendition of the national anthem, filling a corner of Wembley with the flag’s blues and yellows.
Despite being heavily outnumbered in a crowd of around 85,000, away supporters made sure their voices were heard, chanting and singing for their teams.
It was Kane who continued to set new standards in front of goal and took the English fans by storm.
