Emily Hibbs - Football Legends: Harry Kane

Scholastic Childrens Books

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London NW1 1DB, UK

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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2020
This electronic edition published 2020

Text Emily Hibbs, 2020

Cover illustration Stanley Chow, 2020

eISBN 9780702301209

The rights of Emily Hibbsand Stanley Chow to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

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Contents

ENGLANDS HERO

On the evening of 3 July 2018, Englands youngest ever World Cup captain stepped up to the penalty spot in Spartak Stadium, Moscow. The match against Colombia had come down to a penalty shootout something every England fan had been dreading, given the countrys terrible track record. But there was always hope that this team could make history, especially with superstar striker Harry Kane as their captain. Harry had already scored six goals in the tournament, including one earlier on in the Colombia match. He was on his way to winning the World Cup Golden Boot and if he could just hold his nerve heading to Englands first semi-final in twenty-eight years.

But just a few seasons before, none of this would have seemed very likely at all. It had taken a lot of hard work and self-belief for Harry Kane to get to this moment.

Harry had loved football for as long as he could remember. He started playing for his local side when he was six years old. Like his family, Harry was a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan, but spent several years with other clubs before he made it into the Spurs Under-13s side.

Not fast enough, not athletic enough, not strong enough, not big enough Harry would hear it all. Even when he finally signed his first professional contract, he faced months as a substitute on the bench, itching to be given a chance to play. Shipped off on four loan spells to other clubs during two of which he barely managed to get on the pitch he was hardly a likely choice for a future England captain. But Harrys passion and dedication carried him through the hard times, and he kept fighting to prove he deserved a place on Tottenham Hotspurs first team.

Finally, a breakthrough season for Spurs made the world sit up and pay attention. From then on in, it was goals, goals, goals. By the time he arrived at the 2018 World Cup finals, Harry had over one hundred Premier League goals and two Premier League Golden Boots under his belt. But he wasnt finished yet.

As Harry eyed up the goal in that all-important penalty shootout against Colombia, he wasnt thinking of any of those triumphs or heartbreaks, setbacks or successes he was thinking only of how to get the ball into the back of the net, like he had so many times before. Harry ran through his usual penalty routine, took a short run-up, and blasted the ball straight into the bottom corner. Colombias goalkeeper didnt stand a chance. Harry was pleased but it wasnt over yet. This wasnt just about him, after all. When Englands final penalty taker, Eric Dier, shot the ball into the goal to take England through to the next round, Harry was overjoyed. This was a moment hed dreamed of since he was a schoolboy!

Though his first World Cup campaign would end sooner than he hoped, rather than dwell on past mistakes, Harry was determined to use the experience as a learning curve. Spurs star striker and Englands hero still had a lot of goals left in his boots.

When times are down, keep believing, keep working hard and things will pick up.

HARRY KANE

KANES FIRST KICKS

Harry Edward Kane was born on 28 July 1993 at Whipps Cross Hospital, London, about five miles down the road from White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspurs home stadium. Harrys mum, Kim, was an assistant at a dental practice and his dad, Pat, owned a garage. Kim and Pat were loving and supportive, and Harrys big brother, Charlie, was his best friend growing up. The Kanes were a family of football fanatics and huge Spurs fans.

Almost as soon as he could walk, Harry was toddling down to the local park with Pat and Charlie for a kickabout. The small playing field wasnt exactly a world-class stadium. There were no nets or markings, and certainly no cheering crowds, but the trio made do with a patch of grass and a couple of trees for goalposts.

Harry quickly became as obsessed with football as the rest of his family, and a highlight of the week was going to see Spurs play at White Hart Lane. At his first match, four-year-old Harry sat in the crowd, proudly wearing his white-and-blue Spurs shirt, spellbound by the incredible players racing around the field below him. His favourite player, striker Teddy Sheringham, had just transferred to Manchester United. But as one of Tottenhams all-time highest goalscorers he was still Harrys hero, and his preferred footballer to copy at the park. After watching a match, Harry and Charlie practised the tricky tackles and skilful finishes theyd seen at the Lane.

A Sporting Start

When Harry was six the family moved to nearby Chingford, hometown of another legendary footballer, David Beckham. Harry dreamed of following in Davids footsteps and becoming a sporting star himself, so when he spotted an advert for a trial at Ridgeway Rovers, the local club that David played for when he was a boy, Harry knew he had to go for it.

At the warm-up, the coach of Ridgeway Rovers, Dave Bricknell, introduced himself to the ten boys hoping to join his team and asked if anyone was up for having a go in goal. Harry preferred scoring goals to saving them, but he was keen to show the coach that he was happy to do anything, so he put his hand in the air to volunteer. Harry played well as a goalkeeper, making some skilful saves, and Dave was impressed. But then someone suggested that he should try Harry on the pitch it turned out he was even better on the field than he was between the posts. Harry ran around the training ground, scoring goals from way down the field.

The trials were a success. Every week, Kim or Pat drove Harry to the nearby training ground, where he worked on improving his technique and building up his strength. He soon became Ridgeway Rovers number-one striker.

Rubbing Shoulders with Rivals

Ridgeway Rovers had lots of strong players. Scouts from bigger clubs often came to watch their matches. Less than two years after Harry had joined the team, a scout invited him to a trial session for the youth academy of a Premier League club it wasnt Harrys beloved Spurs, but their rivals, Arsenal! Still, the opportunity to play for such a strong team was too good to miss. Compared to Ridgeway Rovers training ground, Arsenals facilities were state-of-the art, with pristine pitches, gyms and meeting rooms.