Soccer
Harry Kane proud to be in Ballon d’Or running after ‘best season by far’
Harry Kane is happy to be in contention for the Ballon d’Or and says he is “extremely proud” of his stunning goalscoring campaign last season.
The 33-year-old is the bookmakers’ favourite to land the award in October after scoring 73 goals for club and country last term, a record only bettered by Lionel Messi’s 82 in 2011-12.
If Kane wins the award, he would become only the fifth English player to do so after Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen, and the first since the latter won it in 2001.
In an interview with TNT Sports’ Owen Hargreaves, the Bayern Munich striker said: “I’m extremely proud of the season I put up, for sure.
“Not that long ago, I was that fan wanting to become a professional footballer and I am here now and winning awards and the Ballon d’Or is the same.
“Of course, now it is out of my hands, it is down to the voters and the people who decide it. The season I had was my best season by far and we’ll have to wait and see.”
Kane has yet to open his Bundesliga account in Bayern’s first two games of this season which have seen them beat Stuttgart 5-1 and draw 0-0 with Schalke.
Despite last term’s heroics, he is still looking to improve.
He added: “It is a weird one because I am already focused on this season now and the next season. Can I be better? Can I improve? But I also want to appreciate what I did.
“The thing with football opinions – there are so many opinions, so many arguments for different players and people love this player because he’s fast and he’s got great IQ and his finishing is great.
“So I think that is what makes football special, all those debates, and the Ballon d’Or is definitely one of them. I’m happy that I am in contention.”
Kane’s 73-goal season saw him eclipse Cristiano Ronaldo’s season-record tally of 69 in 2011-12.
The England captain says he is “amazed” to be in a bracket alongside Messi and Ronaldo, two of the greatest players of all time.
He added: “I grew up watching Messi and Ronaldo, the era of them just dominating and dominating.
“Obviously Messi is the only one to have scored more with 82, but even some of their other seasons, and Ronaldo’s highest I think was 69.
“These are numbers that I just thought were silly, which they are. They are the two greatest of our generation and arguably of all time. So 73 goals, even for me, I am pretty amazed by that.”
