HARRY KANE has opened up on Wayne Rooney’s efforts to include him in the England set-up.
The former Tottenham Hotspur hitman was called up to the Three Lions senior team in March 2015 by Roy Hodgson.
Kane was a million miles away from being the lethal striker he now is when he was called up for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Lithuania and Italy.
The then 21-year-old was incredibly nervous ahead of his debut, although some words of wisdom from Rooney helped quell those nerves.
The Bayern Munich ace said: “I remember, when Wayne Rooney received an award for the greatest number of goals scored for England, he said he expected me to be the next.”
“I found that incredibly kind of him. It’s Wayne Rooney, one of the greatest strikers in history, he didn’t have to have a word for me.
“You know, Wayne was the captain when I started in 2015, and he welcomed me personally.
“He explained a lot of things to me about what it meant to represent England, how it would change my life forever.
“It obviously helped me to understand this stage and I use it in turn today to integrate the new talents who arrive here.”
Rooney’s chat with Kane had the desired effect as the former Spurs star opened his account for his country in a 4-0 romp over the Lithuanians.
Kane hasn’t looked back since that memorable night at Wembley, scoring a further 68 goals to surpass Rooney as the nation’s all-time leading goalscorer.
And his sights are firmly set on bagging 100 goals for his country.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D102592%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /] [bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”‘It felt like the beginning of the end for Harry Kane’ says Man Utd legend as he admits fears for England captain ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6364985385112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]In March 2023, he said: “Getting 100 will be tough for sure, but I never count out anything.
“I am still young – I am 29, I am still fit and strong. I want to play for England for as long as I can.”
He added: “A hundred is not out of the question.
“It will be extremely tough but we will have to see how the next few years go.”
Kane and his England team-mates will be back in action in March, welcoming Albania to Wembley for their first 2026 World Cup qualifier.