Fans have decided to ‘pull apart’ Harry Kane’s record for England, after he became the country’s all time top goalscorer, leading to comparisons with Wayne Rooney.
On Thursday night, Kane became the first Englishman to reach 54 goals, after slotting home a penalty against Italy in the opening Euro 2024 qualifier.
Whilst it’s a shame the Tottenham Hotspur forward didn’t break the record with a penalty against France in last December’s World Cup, it was a joy to see him became the number one scorer.
Certainly Rooney, whose record was overtaken, agreed, being one of the first people send his former teammate congratulations, after Kane had been on the pitch when the former captain broke Bobby Charlton’s record.
Having already broken Spurs’ record as the club’s all time top scorer, it’s turning out to be a great season of milestones for the 29-year-old, even if he’ll end up with zero trophies again.
However, some fans have decided that, after a bit of digging, the former Leyton Orient loanee’s record for the Three Lions isn’t actually any good at all.
You might think that’s a weird thing to say about someone who has 55 goals for his country, a World Cup golden boot and scored in three knockout rounds in-a-row to get his side to the final of the Euros, but you’d be wrong.
Harry Kane….
32 of his 54 goals were scored against…
San Marino
Albania
Bulgaria
Montenegro
Panama
Kosovo
Lithuania
Malta
Andorra
Nigeria
Scotland
Senegal
SloveniaAdd the 18 penalties…
Means he's scord 4 goals in decent games…….
😳
— Shaun (@LfcShaunjudge) March 26, 2023
I mean let’s be honest, the maths absolutely do not add up here, considering some of those penalties will have been against some of the teams in the list.
Added to the fact that far more of Kane’s goals have come in competitive games than haven’t and you’ve got an all round terrible opinion.
Interestingly, a similar idea was touted when Rooney broke the record back in 2015, against Switzerland in a game that Kane played in.
The former Manchester United star played in more friendlies, with the Nations League now taking their place, and in less successful England teams, but he was part of them.
‘Wazza’ was probably under appreciated when he was still playing, and when he broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s record, and the same is now happening to Kane.
Cristiano Ronaldo is busy racking up international goals, with the lead scorer in men’s football of all time now on 122, and many of his goals came against inferior opponents and from the penalty spot.
If you’re going to question England’s all time top scorer it would be on his inability to win a trophy, not on who he’s scored his goals against and when, bad players don’t tend to win the World Cup Golden Boot.
