Harry Kane has talked up England’s chances of winning Euro 2020, saying they have a stronger squad than the one that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018.
England are one of the favourites to win the tournament and Kane feels that they have improved since their heartbreaking defeat by Croatia in Russia three years ago. The captain said that Gareth Southgate’s side had developed more authority and experience, although he warned his teammates not to get carried away.
“We’re probably in a better place,” Kane told the official England podcast. “Going into that World Cup we maybe weren’t sure where we were as a team, but we performed really well and stepped up to the occasion. I feel like now we’ve had a bit more experience, players in the biggest games for their club and obviously players who have played in that World Cup have had that experience as well.
“I feel like we are in a good place. We know there is still a lot of hard work that goes into it. We don’t just turn up and win the tournament. We haven’t won a tournament as a country for a long time, so there needs to be a lot of good mentality along the whole way as it is a long, tough journey to get to the later stages of a major tournament.”
Kane, who aims to finish watching Game of Thrones before the tournament, said that England would not be out for revenge when they face Croatia in their opening game on Sunday.
“It’s a game that hurts,” the striker said. “It’s a game we wanted to win and we wanted to get to a World Cup final, but it doesn’t always pan out how you want. We just fell short in that moment.
“But it’s a game for us in a big tournament and Croatia are a great side. We’ll be focused on their team and trying to stop their threats and we’ll try to get on the ball and create chances. The most important thing is to look forward and just try to beat them.”
Kane hopes that home advantage works in England’s favour. Their group games against Croatia, Scotland and the Czech Republic are at Wembley. “It’s been strange without fans,” he said. “I’m really excited to have a certain number for the group stages and, hopefully, the restrictions get less and less and we can have more in there as the tournament goes on.”
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