Football
ESPN 5y

Harry Kane targets Nations League win to England's trophy drought

Harry Kane has said England must take their opportunity to win the UEFA Nations League after reaching the semifinals next summer.

England came from behind to beat World Cup finalists Croatia 2-1 at Wembley, a result that saw Gareth Southgate's side progress to a four-team mini tournament in Portugal and relegated their opponents.

"It's definitely an opportunity for us," Kane said. "It's another semifinal, two wins away from winning a trophy, so whoever we play will be a tough game when you look at the other groups.

"We are going to have to beat another top nation, but we have shown we can do it.

"It is a great feeling, I said the other day, nobody really knows how big this competition is going to become, you don't really get many opportunities to win a tournament in an England shirt, so we have got to try and take full advantage of that. And it's another semifinal for the fans to look forward to as well.

"We are professionals, we want to win everything we do, whether it is a new tournament or an old tournament we want to win. It's a chance to win a trophy in an England shirt so we are going to try and do that."

Two late goals saw England fight back to claim an impressive win and Kane highlighted the Wembley crowd as a major factor in spurring them on to victory.

"It's incredible, I've never seen Wembley like this in an England shirt," he said. "We want to make everyone proud. I know they'll enjoy this one.

"We felt the crowd. We felt their presence. That's what we need everywhere we go. It felt good. The lads stuck at it, we showed our character, stayed calm and deserved to win."

Gareth Southgate hailed Harry Kane as "the best goal scorer in the world," and backed the Tottenham striker to go on to even better things for England.

"We have huge belief in him and he's so hungry to lead the team on and lead the team further," Southgate said.

"But the most pleasing thing for me is the connection with the fans, I've not heard Wembley like that for years. We've given our supporters some memorable days this year. If Wembley can be like that for the next couple of years, we're going to be playing in some significant games.

"Next year looks like a really exciting year to be part of. The feeling around the team is really powerful and we need to build on that."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

^ Back to Top ^