By Ayinla Abdulbasit Olorunoje
In the footballing world, every generation has been blessed with prolific strikers who through their prowess and hard work gotten numerous achievements both personal and at country and club level.
One such in this generation undoubtedly is Harry Kane, who plays as a striker for a German club, Bayern Munich and also captains the England men’s team.
Kane’s career has been marked by remarkable talent and consistent performances, yet his journey is often seen through the lens of what could have been. He has repeatedly demonstrated his ability with his goalscoring prowess, despite his achievements, the major trophies that often define a player’s legacy have eluded him.
He has 406 career goals in 643 games so far and has won the Premier League Golden Boots thrice, one the Premier League Playmaker of the Year, and UEFA Golden Boots once and was also the top scorer in Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. One European Championship golden boots and one European golden boots also for being the highest goal scorer in Europe after the conclusion of the 2023/2024 season and a lot more.
One would say with all these individual awards, Harry Kane is one of the most decorated players of his generation but the reverse is the case as at 32 years, he is yet to lift a trophy at both club and country level. Having left his boyhood club Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023 to join Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich to secure a trophy as they were known for their rich success in trophy collection which included winning the Bundesliga title 11 times in a row.
His journey through clubsÂ
Making his professional debut in 2009 with Tottenham Hotspur before his loan spells at different clubs in England, he played for teams like Leyton Orient in 2011 before heading to Millwall in 2012 and Norwich City in the same year. He also played on loan for Leicester City in 2013 before he was able to mark his place in the Tottenham squad in 2014 following the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as the new head coach.
Looking at the teams he played for, securing a trophy seems like an impossible thing as these teams are far behind the trophy. With Leyton Orient as a team, it is visible that the team has been struggling with securing promotion from lower division to upper division and only came to winning a major trophy in the 2018/2019 season where the team was the runner-up in the finals of the FA Cup.
Millwall is also a non-winning trophy team as the last trophy won was in 1983, Norwich City, a team known for regular promotion and demotion from the England top flight also had its hand last on a trophy in 1985. Leicester City have some history of winning trophies but not regularly which during Harry Kane’s time at the club was their drought season.
Tottenham Hotspur is regarded as one of the big six clubs in England, the Lilywhites have over 20 trophies in their cabinet since their inception over a century ago with the last one being won in 2007/2008 before Harry Kane even made his professional debut.
The England national team for years have been known for not delivering on the big stages and only one trophy is recorded in their name which is the FIFA World Cup in 1966 which was their first and only one since then.
Bayern Munich is a football club known for its successes all in the domestic and European competitions boasting 32 Bundesliga titles, 20 DFB Pokal titles, and 10 Supercup with six Champions League trophies throughout its history.
Known for its rich success, the Bavarian’s form has been on a deteriorating streak but was in a hidden form and became visible when they lost the league title to Bayer Leverkusen last season.
The situation Bayern Munich finds themselves in has landed Harry Kane in an awkward situation as fans continue to point at his bad luck being the reason for the club’s nightmare so far this season.
Bavarians started the season with a 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, with England striker Harry Kane making his debut as a second-half substitute, a game many thought would be the end of Kane’s drought.
Harry Kane has tried his best to help Bayern Munich stay competitive but the flaws of a depleting side are highlighted by the improvement of surrounding clubs, which was not the case in recent times.
How close was Harry Kane to lifting a trophy
Kane played in five different finals twice with Tottenham Hotspur, the UEFA Champions League final against Liverpool in the 2018/2019 season and the EFL Cup against Manchester City in the 2020/2021 season and lost on both occasions.
He played his first match with Bayern Munich against RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup on 12 August 2023, a match played by the previous winner of the league and the winner of the DFB-Pokal.
With the England national team, he played in the EURO 2020 and EURO 2024 finals and lost on two occasions, one against Italy and one against the Spanish team. He played in the semi-final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 edition of the Nations League and came third.
Many thought he would be able to lift a trophy when Chelsea’s playmaker Cole Palmer equalised for the Three Lions against Spain in the just concluded European competition but only for Real Sociedad’s Oyarzabal to fire home the second goal for La Roja which was enough to deny Harry Kane the chance of lifting a trophy.
Taking the early lead in the final of the EURO 2020 tournament thanks to Luke Shaw’s goal also gave Kane the hope of lifting a trophy but thanks to Bonucci’s equaliser and Saka’s penalty miss which ended Kane’s hope of lifting a trophy during the tournament.
Under the watch of Jose Mourinho as the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, a man known for winning all the finals he played in before that time was in a final with Harry Kane’s team against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City only for the Portuguese to be sacked a few days before the final which eventually later ended in a loss for Harry Kane despite high hopes.
Ultimately, whether Harry Kane is a victim of circumstance or ill-fated depends on one’s viewpoint. His undeniable skill and dedication have brought him individual accolades and records, yet the absence of major team honours continues to fuel the debate over the true nature of his footballing journey.
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