TEAR WE GO
World Cup 2018: Harry Kane would watch England games in the pub as a kid with face paint on and cry after defeat
FACE-PAINTING, the pub, joy… and sometimes tears.
England games are a big tradition in the Kane household.
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At The Sirloin pub in Chingford, north east London, it would always be a family affair with a young Harry going along with dad, Pat, mum, Kim, and brother Charlie.
Sometimes the boys would go with the cross of St George painted on their cheeks.
After an England defeat, Harry would cry.
Now there are tears of joy among the Kanes and the rest of the country as England’s captain and leading World Cup scorer looks to fire the Three Lions into the final in Moscow on Sunday.
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Kane has always stressed his pride at playing for the national team, at any level and at any cost — even at the Under-21s European Championships when Tottenham were keen for him to be rested.
Following his England debut at Wembley, when the talisman needed just 79 seconds to score his first goal, Kane walked into the players’ lounge — and again family members burst into tears of joy and pride.
Kane is living out his dream. For an hour after the quarter-final victory against Sweden in Samara on Saturday, he happily sat in the stands with friends, family and supporters, reflecting on another step towards glory.
He also posed for selfies with those supporters and signed autographs.
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Kane, 24, said: “This is incredible.
“As a player and a professional I know I have a job, on and off the pitch, to inspire people and kids hopefully watching this tournament.
“It’s amazing because I was one of those kids growing up who wanted to play for England.
“So to be here now, leading this team out, I’m so proud. I know that the family are proud.
“My missus back home is, too, she is obviously gutted she cannot be here.
“But we are just looking forward to finishing strongly and, whatever happens, to being able to say we are proud of each other.
“We feel proud to make the fans proud. That’s what we wanted to do when we set out.
“We wanted to play good football. We wanted to work hard, play with passion and we feel we have done that. So we are enjoying it.
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“We can see the fans are enjoying it here and back home, so we have just got to try and keep it going.
“We are one step closer to what is the biggest game in football as a professional.
“We’ve got a great squad. We spoke a lot about the togetherness and the manager is great. And we just all enjoy being here.
“We had the sense before the game that we don’t want to go home yet.
“We don’t want to let anyone down. We want to be here to the end.
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“It’s one step closer. We are enjoying it, it’s a happy camp. We get to see our families now and saw them after the Sweden game, which was great.
“Everyone wants to finish the job and we are excited to try and do that.”
It is pretty clear Kane is doing everything he can for the team — it is very much a ‘we’ mentality.
And his display in Samara was very unselfish, often dropping deep to make space for Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli.
He also played a key role in Harry Maguire’s opener in the penalty area.
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Kane, who leads the race for the Golden Boot with six goals, is aware of the impact the run has made on everyone.
Ex-captain Gary Lineker was close to breaking down live on TV when a clip showing former boss Bobby Robson and his side at the Italia 90 semi-final — the last time England reached the last four of a World Cup — was screened.
Kane, who has also met 1966 hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst, added: “I was quite emotional after the Colombia win. It was a hard-fought game.
“Against Sweden, it was more of a different feeling. It was more of a calm, professional performance.
“Obviously Pickers (Jordan Pickford) made a couple of good saves, but we never looked under too much threat. I’m proud to make ex-players proud.
“I’m sure it’s bringing back memories for them and for Gary when he was in the semi-final. But, look, we said we wanted to write our own history. Hopefully we can go one step further and get to the final.
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“It’s amazing to meet any heroes from 66 and it gives you so much inspiration.
“Obviously it’s been a long time since England have done well in a major tournament. We’ve got a tough game coming up but we feel confident.
“We felt composed out there. I looked around and everyone was on the same wavelength. Everyone was calm and that’s what we need if we want to go all the way.”
Most importantly, as they proved against the Swedes, England are dealing with the huge pressure — something this nation’s football team has not been very good at over the last few years.
Kane added: “I thought it was a great performance. There’s so much pressure. The world watching on. England watching on.
“I thought we handled it really well. We were composed, we played our style and a 2-0 win in a quarter-final is all we can ask for.”
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