Wayne Rooney supported Harry Kane to set up England goal record that can last for many years.
Kane scored the 54th goal for his country in Thursday’s 2-1 win, beating Rooney as England’s most prolific shooter. Italy His 81st international appearance at a Euro 2024 qualifier in Naples.
Rooney, who has held the record since 2015, now expects Kane, 29, to raise the bar significantly.
The former Manchester United striker wrote in The Times: “As I know Harry, it’s not something that would cross his mind. He will start and I believe that once he actually stops playing he will leave the England record where it would be very difficult for anyone else to break it.
“He wants to be like the Polish Robert Lewandowski, still a top goal machine in his mid-30s, and he has the power to make it happen.
“I think Harry will finish by the 70s with England goals.”
Rooney, who retired from international football in 2017, played with Kane in the early years of his Tottenham striker career and expected big things from a player he compared to Cristiano Ronaldo.
“You could see that it was natural for him. He didn’t have to look where the target was – he already knew – and would shoot at every opportunity.
“He was shooting from all over, from all these crazy angles, and that has become a feature of his game.
“The only person I’ve seen like this is Cristiano Ronaldo and both he and Harry have what you would call a good selfishness, an innate obsession with goals. It’s important to their success,” he said.
Rooney, 37, manager of Major League Soccer club DC UnitedHe doesn’t mind losing the record at all.
He said: “Records are great when you have them, but they’re always there to be broken. It was a great honor to be England’s top scorer, but there is an improvement in football, isn’t it?”