Harry Kane has risen from the European Championship rut and reclaimed the throne of English football.
The two goals against Finland at Wembley last Tuesday night extended his position as all-time top scorer for the country that invented this hellish game.
Our ‘Arry celebrated his 100th England cap. A nation cheered. And who cares that the Laplanders played with about as much enthusiasm as a canary before a trip to a coal mine?
A goal is a goal is a goal and Citizen Kane has scored 68 of them while wearing the Three Lions crest.
Bravo. It couldn’t have happened to a more decent young man. Now to the debate in the stands and in the pubs across the country. Is he the best striker in English history?
Harry Kane scored twice in his 100th international match to take his England tally to 68 goals
That argument extends beyond the mere statistics that make Kane a leading candidate for the award.
In fact, it is a rare rivalry with the genius who made the complicated art of scoring goals look ridiculously simple, despite scoring over a hundred more goals in senior football and only 24 fewer in about half as many international matches.
Jimmy Greaves, by a thorough appreciation of the figures, ranks higher. When judged by artistic merit, this will o’ the wisp who occasionally indulged himself in caressing the ball with such delicate precision that it crossed the goal line without touching the net, is the supreme maestro of this art.
These are the key figures:
England – Kane 100 caps 68 goals; Greaves 57 caps 44 goals.
Senior Club Competitions – Kane 250 goals (213 for Spurs, 37 for Bayern Munich); Greaves 366 goals (124 for Chelsea, 220 for Spurs, 13 for West Ham, 9 for AC Mlian.
Kane was presented with a gold cap in honour of his 100th game for the Three Lions
He extended his position as the country’s all-time top scorer with a double against the Finns at Wembley on Tuesday. But is he also the greatest striker in English history?
These are the men:
Kane is more than just height, strength and power. The headers and shots are complemented by an ability to slip back from No 9 territory to make the passes for moves that create goals for others and himself. He has a dominating presence about him that is as much a result of his personality as his physique.
Greaves used his head to discern space where there seemed to be none, drifting unnoticed into space and accelerating at the speed of light until he was close to the deadly target.
There was a magician in him, which gave us, who were privileged to see him at his best, a sense of wonder because we were witnessing something mystical.
Sir Bobby Charlton embodied much of Kane’s awe and Greaves’ aura. But while he was England’s top scorer for the longest period of any icon, despite being a nominal midfield virtuoso, the stats don’t quite add up to the pair at the top of this ranking.
Jimmy Greaves (pictured) scores higher than Kane, according to a thorough review of the figures
World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton (pictured) embodied much of Kane’s awe
Wayne Rooney was a young phenomenon and at one point was England’s top scorer
Wayne Rooney was a young phenomenon, Alan Shearer a powerhouse, Gary Lineker a deadly opportunist and Michael Owen a baby-faced killer.
There must also be places in this list of England’s greatest strikers for golden oldies who reached a younger age and came closer to scoring as many goals as caps than any of today’s icons, especially considering how few international matches have been played in recent decades.
Namely Tommy Lawton 22 goals in 23 games; Stan Mortensen 23 in 25, Nat Lofthouse 30 in 33.
Let us not forget the importance of proclaiming Sir Tom Finney as the greatest of all English footballers, a status that Bobby Charlton and Bill Shankly, were they still alive, would remind us of, among many others.
The Preston plumber’s 30 goals in 76 games for England don’t tell the whole story of a legend who played so powerfully in every midfield and attacking position that Bobby Charlton and Bill Shankly were among the many who constantly reminded us that if assists were included in the equation, Finney would have scored thousands of goals in his time.
Alan Shearer (left) was a powerhouse, while Gary Lineker (right) was a deadly opportunist
Michael Owen was a baby-faced hitman for England and Liverpool in his younger years
Such rankings are always subject to change as time goes on. Kane declares that he is hungry to add to his goal tally and surpass Peter Shilton’s record of 125 caps for England. The years are still on his side, as he looks to challenge Greaves for the striker title.
Not that Prince Harry or any future England striker will ever emulate Cristiano Ronaldo, who has just scored his 901st career goal, or Lionel Messi, who is now on 838.
Pelé will forever outshine them, having scored in three of Brazil’s World Cup triumphs. It doesn’t matter where the reality lies between the nitpicky stats-men who try to belittle him with 746 career goals and FIFA, recognizing that in the Edson Arantes Do Nascimento era records weren’t fully kept, officially crediting him with ‘over 1,200.’
In the meantime, here’s our tribute to the 10 greatest English goalscorers of all time:
10.Tommy Lawton
9.Michael Owen
8. Stan Mortensen
7. Gary Lineker
6. Nat Lofthuis
5. Alan Shearer
4.Wayne Rooney
3. Sir Bobby Charlton
2. Harry Kane
1. Jimmy Greaves