Harry Kane has scored 56 goals in 2017, and we are not talking about the balls he puts past goalkeepers in training. We are talking real games: with officials, opponents, people in the stands, whether for the England national team or at his day job with Tottenham Hotspur.
He is not the only player in the world who reached the 50-goal mark this past calendar year, but he might be the least known of the few who have, and he certainly is the youngest. Which means he might still have greater things ahead of him.
Like, imagine what the soccer world will be like this summer if Kane scores the goals that advance England deep into the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He could become one those players known worldwide by a single name — although someone would need to decide whether that name is “Harry” or “Kane.”
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“I’m certain that is Harry’s ambition, and there’s no question if that is his ambition, then this is the stage to go and show it,” England manager Gareth Southgate told reporters in advance of the World Cup draw in early December.
“As a player you are judged a lot by what happens with your club but in the end the world stars are ultimately judged by what they do with their country, and in major tournaments, this is the stage for all of our guys to show exactly the level they are capable of.”
The other four players who crossed the 50-goal mark with their country and club teams in 2017? You could guess most of them off the top of your head: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid; Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona; Robert Lewandowski of Poland and Bayern Munich; and Edinson Cavani of Uruguay and Paris Saint-Germain. Kane wasn't just in that exclusive club — he led it. He was the first player not named Ronaldo or Messi to earn that distinction in Europe's top leagues in seven years.
Kane scored five goals in six games of World Cup qualifying as England dominated its group. The English were drawn into Group G along with Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and opens June 18 against Tunisia.
Winning the World Cup, or coming darned close, will not be Kane’s only goal in 2018. His excellent performances at the front of Tottenham’s attack also helped Spurs excel in the UEFA Champions League. They were drawn into an extremely difficult group with Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund — and yet claimed first place by winning five times and drawing once.
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Spurs scored 15 goals and allowed just four, with Kane scoring six times. It was a performance that suggested Tottenham could feel confident about its Round of 16 matchup against Italian champion Juventus.
Tottenham has struggled a bit in Premier League play, its five league losses more than all four teams placed higher in the standings. That probably isn’t Kane’s fault, though; he has 18 goals in 19 starts.
It’s the kind of performance that has put him into the company of the world’s greatest goal scorers.
The encore could be really extraordinary, though.
