March 27 – England captain Harry Kane’s struck a record-extending 55th goal for his country on Sunday as England beat Ukraine 2-0 at Wembley in their latest Euro qualifier.
Kane had already surpassed Wayne Rooney as England’s outright leading scorer with his penalty in Thursday’s 2-1 win against Italy in Naples.
Back at Wembley, he celebrated in front of his home fans with another goal and was presented with a commemorative golden boot ahead of the game in recognition of his latest milestone.
“It has been crazy over the last few days,” Kane said. “My dad and brother were in Naples so I shared that moment with them. I had my wife and kids here today and those are memories that will always stay with me.”
The England captain struck in the 37th minute, converting Bukayo Saka’s cross at the far post. Saka deservedly got on the scoresheet himself three minutes later when turning on the edge of the area and curling a shot into the top corner.
With that double strike England ensured a 100% start to qualifying for Euro 2024 in what has been an impressive response to the disappointment of being eliminated from last year’s World Cup at the quarterfinal stage.
“It shows the type of team we are. We were all disappointed after the World Cup but the sign of a good team is to come back,” Kane said. “we’ve put in two great performances and it shows the mentality of the team.”
Ukraine were playing for the first time in six months and were cheered on throughout by an away contingent of around 4,200 fans. The English FA had invited more than 1,000 Ukrainian refugees to the match and ahead of kickoff Ukraine’s fans sang a stirring rendition of the country’s national anthem.
“It was an atmosphere like no other international game I have ever experienced,” said Ukraine coach Ruslan Rotan.
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