Harry Kane insists he would swap all of his personal accolades to end his trophy jinx and win Euro 2024 as England captain.
The Bayern Munich striker will lead his country out for Sunday’s final against Spain in Berlin and could help end a 58-year wait for a major men’s trophy for England.
It would also bring a close to Kane’s own silverware duck, the 30-year-old having yet to taste team success despite a fine career in front of goal.
Kane is both England and Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer, won the 2018 World Cup golden boot, the 2024 Champions League golden boot and three Premier League top-scorer awards.
He left Spurs to join Bayern last summer but still ended the season empty-handed as Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga campaign saw the Munich giants miss out on the title for the first time in 11 years.
Asked if he would swap his own gongs for a first taste of trophy success, Kane replied: “Of course, it’s no secret that I haven’t won a team trophy.
“Every year that goes by you’re more motivated and you’re more determined to change that and tomorrow I have the opportunity to win one of the biggest trophies you could ever win and to make history with my nation…I’m extremely proud to be English.
“So yeah, no question. I’d swap everything in my career to have a special night by winning tomorrow.
“So it’s a lot of hard work from now until that moment and I’m pretty determined to make tomorrow night special.”
Kane could yet add another trophy to his own collection as he is level with Spain’s Dani Olmo in the race for the Euro 2024 golden boot, having netted three goals in Germany this summer.
He was captain of the England side that lost the Euro 2020 final on penalties to Italy and was also defeated in a Champions League final when Spurs were beaten by Liverpool.
“I think it would mean everything, it would obviously be the most incredible feeling, as a professional footballer, that you could get,” he said of winning a trophy with England.
“I’m sure also for the fans to have that moment in history and to be able to celebrate that would be something very special but we’ve been here before and as I said it was a tough finish in the last Euros so there’s extra hunger and fire in the belly to make sure this one goes our way.
“But we also know it’s going to be an extremely tough night so we prepared well, we will still have a couple of meetings from now until the game.
“Whenever you lose a final it is always tough to wipe it out of the memory, I’m always someone who tries to learn from disappointment and learn from times that are tough and I think it helps me improve as a player and a person.
Last yards ✅
Full focus on Spain 👊 pic.twitter.com/Cq3k9QkF2t
— England (@England) July 13, 2024
“Of course that moment was difficult but it was three years ago and a lot has happened since at international and club level so I’m excited to be back on that stage, it has been a hard journey to get here.
“Now it is just about getting out there and trying to execute the game plan that we want and getting over the line, that is what we have spoken about over the years.
“We have done fantastic (sic) in a lot of tournaments but now it is time to get over the line and we have that opportunity tomorrow.”
