England’s Anthony Gordon was all praise for his captain Harry Kane after the Three Lions defeated Congo DR by 2-1 in the round of 32 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup on Wednesday. After the African nation scored early in the seventh minute through Brian Cipenga, Kane scored a double in the second half to help his team stay afloat in the tournament and reach the round of 16.
It was Gordon who provided the assist to Kane for the equaliser as the England captain thudded the ball into goal with his head in the 75th minute. Once again, Gordon found Kane just outside the box and the veteran was quick to get away from the Congo DR’s defenders, and took a brilliant shot without even looking at the target in the 86th minute.
Gordon compared Kane’s level with Argentina’s skipper Lionel Messi.
“It’s amazing to be around him every day because when you’re around someone at the elite level, he’s at the very, very top of football,” Gordon said of Kane. “He’s having a season that’s only ever been beat by Leo Messi, the greatest footballer of all time. So that speaks to the level he’s playing at.
“When you’re around someone like that, you want to pick up as many habits and watch everything he does to see why he’s at that level. It’s no accident. It’s consistency every day: how hard he works, every finishing drill, he does it with passion, he does it with seriousness. He never, ever misses a beat. It’s amazing to be around him. He’s definitely an inspiration to all of us.”
And on Kane’s winner, Gordon said: “As soon as he hit it, I knew it was going in. I was already celebrating, but anyone can score a good goal. Anyone at this level can place the ball in the top corner but it’s the consistency that he does. Every day in training, every game is phenomenal. He plays at such a high, high level.”
Despite England’s growing frustration, Gordon was adamant England were going to find a way to win. “I never thought they were going to beat us. I knew we would win because I’m trusting everyone on that pitch. I know how to work in training. It’s going to be difficult for anyone to meet us over 90 minutes because we work so hard and if they do, they’ll deserve to win because we give everything.
“We train hard and we play hard. I just try to make an impact. I tried to be direct. I knew they’d be tired so I just tried to be direct, tried to make them more tired and give the ball to Harry.”
Kane also went past legendary Pele’s tally of 11 goals at the World Cup and has now scored 13 goals for England.
