England debutant Kane's 'dream come true'

A special night began to unfold for Harry Kane even before kick-off, when the teams were read out and his name got the biggest cheer. What followed – the crackle of anticipation as he stood waiting to come on, the huge roar as he took the field in the 71st minute, and then, 79 seconds later, a first England goal – was, in his own words, the stuff of dreams.

"It's a dream come true," the Tottenham Hotspur FC forward told UEFA.com. "For any player making their debut for their senior side, that's what they dream of – to score a goal. For it to happen so quickly is amazing and I'm just buzzing."

Kane, as so often during a remarkable breakthrough campaign, was in the right place at the right time as he arrived at the far post to head goalwards. Goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis got his hands to the ball but – thankfully for those who like a good fairy tale – failed to keep it out. "I thought he had clawed it out at first and when I see it hit the net it's just pure emotion – a proud, proud day for me and my family," added the 21-year-old, whose goal capped England's 4-0 Wembley victory over Lithuania.

Kane now has 30 goals for club and country this term – a remarkable record given he did not start a league game for Tottenham before November – and he struggled to put his hot streak into words. "I'm not too sure to be honest, I'm just enjoying it and loving every minute," he said. "I just want to be out there playing."

Kane is now expected to make his first start in Tuesday's friendly against Italy in Turin. "I will be ready if called upon," he said and after his lightning start, nobody would doubt that. His manager Roy Hodgson praised the way the Spurs youngster had handled "a lot of pressure and hype around him" and his team-mates are equally impressed.

Raheem Sterling, who claimed his own first international goal with England's third of the night, told UEFA.com: "He's going to score you goals and that's the most important thing in football. In training this week he has been drifting, shooting and scoring and today he's come on and scored within minutes. I'm really happy for him and hope he can get many more for England."

Perhaps the perfect summing-up came from left-back Leighton Baines – "Everything he touches at the moment turns to gold," he said – and encouragingly for England, Kane was not the only attacker to shine in a success that made it five wins from five Group E games. Danny Welbeck collected the man-of-the-match award after linking up impressively with Wayne Rooney and scoring the second goal before his involvement was ended early by a knee injury.

Baines praised Welbeck's partnership with Rooney, his old Manchester United FC colleague: "The last couple of years for England [Welbeck] has been a real threat and his pace really puts defences on the back foot. Although he's moved on [to Arsenal FC] he's obviously familiar with Wayne and they've got a relationship there."

As for Rooney, for 20 minutes it looked like he might be closing in on Sir Bobby Charlton's scoring record as he grabbed goal No47 for his country and hit the woodwork twice. Had those two efforts gone in, Rooney would have equalled Sir Bobby's tally. Instead the story of the night was England's newest striker and his very first goal.