Harry Kane on England's favourites tag, notes from Thomas Müller and breaking records – interview
Sunday, June 16, 2024
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"We're trying to make history here," says the England captain as the Three Lions gear up for UEFA EURO 2024.
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Harry Kane is set to become the first player to captain England at four major tournaments when he leads his side out at UEFA EURO 2024. The Three Lions have had a number of near misses in recent years, but the Bayern forward will be desperately hoping that Germany could be the setting for them to end 58 years of hurt by lifting the famous Henri Delaunay Cup for the first time.
Speaking to UEFA.com, Kane discussed how the squad are dealing with being considered one of the favourites to win the tournament, a hotel note he received from Bayern team-mate Thomas Müller, and how he feels about continuing to break new ground.
On feelings ahead of the tournament
I'm excited. There's always excitement, especially when you get out to the host nation, settle into the hotel and see where everything is. Hopefully it's going to be our camp for a good four or five weeks. As the days go on you start to get a bit of nerves, the preparation starts, and you watch the first game, Germany vs Scotland, and that's when it really kicks in. But at the moment, everyone's pretty calm and excited.
On a hotel note from Müller
Tommy left me a little note, because they [Germany] were here just a couple of weeks ago. He texted me saying the golf course is great but the weather has not been so good. It looks fantastic, the hotel is incredible, and to be in Germany is a bit of a home from home.
The reception I've had since I've been at Bayern has been incredible, and ever since I've been in the hotel I've had some of the staff come up and say hello. I'm not saying they want England to win, but I think they have a little soft spot for us now I'm here, and that's fantastic.
On breaking the captaincy record
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. 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.
On England's squad
I think this squad is one of the best, if not the best, we've had, going on form and the domestic seasons a lot of us have had. We have incredible young talent coming through who are fearless and just want to get on the ball and play. I hope that the guys can lean on me and ask me questions, and if I can help them get through anything, then great. But we have such a good togetherness, we're always talking or having dinner together and there's always conversations being had, so that helps us.
More on England
[Coach] Gareth [Southgate] had a really tough decision and some really tough calls to make [with the squad], because we have some really good attacking players for England. But, for me personally, it's fantastic. I want to be playing with players who can provide assists, can score goals and [have] good movement [and can] get on the ball in tight areas, and we have all of that.
On being one of the favourites
I think we've earned the right to have that status through the previous tournaments we've had. But we're also a team that hasn't won a EURO before, so we're trying to make history here. That's a target we've set out to try to achieve, but we know there's going to be a long, hard road ahead. We need to make sure we get it right because, in these tournaments, if you're not quite on it 100%, you can be punished.
On the first game against Serbia
They're a team that can hurt you if you're not switched on properly, and defensively they're really strong. They make it difficult with set plays and have a tall team, so they cause a lot of threats. Like I said, if we're not careful, and if we're not 100% focused, it could be a difficult game for us, so we need to make sure we get that right.