Goalnado Harry Kane Wins The World Cup Golden Boot With Six Goals
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Harry Kane has won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia with his six tournament goals proving to be more than any other player at the tournament could muster.
Admittedly, it was pretty much sewn up yesterday when Belgium's Romelu Lukaku went off, and it would have taken something utterly unheard of from either Kylian Mbappé, or Antoine Griezmann to change that in the final as France beat Croatia to be crowned world champions. But it still represents a fantastic personal achievement for the Tottenham and England striker.
That said, it will always be tinged with a sense of disappointment.
England had their best chance in years to make a telling impact on a world tournament, got a favourable draw, and were eventually beaten by runners-up Croatia in a tournament that will live long in the memory for the way it united the country.
In fact, with the restructuring/re-jigging of the World Cup format and timing in future tournaments, this could be the best chance that the Three Lions get for a long while to bring football home again.
From a personal perspective, Kane failed to score towards the end of the tournament, and finished having only scored three goals from open play, with one of those - his hat-trick goal against Panama - being a frankly bizarre fluke off the back of his heel.
He scored three penalties in that time - two against Panama and one against Colombia - and that takes nerve and skill, but he faded a little as the tournament went on and some people reckoned he might have been injured.
It is possible that Kane's win will be the most underwhelming Golden Boot victory since Russia's Oleg Salenko shared the award back in 1994 after scoring five goals in one game against a ragged Cameroon side.
This is, of course, irrelevant. Kane won't mind and the history books will record that he scored six goals, which is more than anyone else. He's also the first England player to win the World Cup golden boat since Gary Lineker in 1986.
With regards to the manner and timing of his goals, as you might imagine, Kane is not too bothered. He told The Guardian: "It shows we had a very good group stage. We scored a lot of goals. Obviously, I'm disappointed I couldn't get a goal in the last few games but that's football."
He can be proud, but it is a bit of the same story of the rest of England's campaign.
They got a win against Tunisia at the death, battered a very poor Panama, beat a dogged Colombia on penalties, and eased past a lacklustre Sweden.
The three times they came up against strong sides, they were beaten. There is cause for optimism, but it's best not to get too carried away.
In summary, well done Harry Kane and there's even more to come from him. If that's not something to get excited about, I don't know what is.
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: SPORT, Russia 2018, Football, England, World Cup, Harry Kane
