Harry Kane wins 100th England cap vs. Finland
Harry Kane described his 100th cap for England as a “pretty much perfect” night after scoring both goals in Tuesday’s 2-0 UEFA Nations League win over Finland.
Kane finally broke the deadlock at Wembley in the 57th minute with an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net from just inside the box.
And the 31-year-old secured the three points for England by doubling his tally 14 minutes from the end with a clever first-time finish following a square pass from substitute Noni Madueke on his international debut.
“As a striker of course on my 100th cap I wanted to score a goal and make the night as memorable as possible and to win the game as well,” said Kane.
“So to score a couple of good goals, a couple of nice finishes and help the team win 2-0 was pretty much perfect so a proud night for me and the family and now we can enjoy it.
“I had enough shots to get a hat trick but [interim boss] Lee [Carsley] spoke about managing some minutes with a lot of games coming up.
“I’ve always spoken about when things are not going your way, trying to use that to bring an energy, a motivation and a hunger not just to prove other people but to prove to yourself that you can keep maintaining this level and keep pushing.
“That’s what I talk about. There will be a time — I’m not sure when — when the level will drop and you won’t quite feel the same but while I feel like I do, I want to keep pushing the boundaries. I think I showed that out there tonight and come October, I’ll be ready to go again.”
The victory means England have started Carsley’s reign with two wins from their opening two Nations League matches after beating Ireland 2-0 in Dublin last weekend.
Kane had earlier been presented with a golden cap by fellow England centurions Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole in a special ceremony before kick-off at Wembley after becoming the 10th men’s player to reach the milestone.
Kane is England’s all-time top scorer with 68 goals during a career in which he has started 87 games and been named captain on 73 occasions.
The Bayern Munich striker made his England debut in March 2015 — marking the occasion with a goal just 79 seconds after coming on.
Kane has played more games at major finals (28) than any other Englishman but is yet to win a trophy having been part of the side that lost back-to-back Euros finals, including this summer’s 2-1 defeat to Spain.
