Only the title is good enough for England ―Kane

Newly minted England captain Harry Kane wants to use Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final as inspiration for the upcoming World Cup in Russia.

Kane was chosen as the man to lead his country into the tournament by manager Gareth Southgate, after a period where no permanent skipper had been appointed.

He now has the tough task of captaining a team who will be under enormous pressure to improve on previous performances at major tournaments, but Kane said there was still every chance that England could go deep into the World Cup.

“We know we’re not favourites to win it, but nobody would’ve thought Liverpool would get to the Champions League final,” Kane told the media on Tuesday. “I believe we can win it, and everything else isn’t good enough.

“No matter how good our teams have been [in previous years], we haven’t been good enough. From our point of view now, we’ve got nothing to lose.”

Kane was asked whether he thought the pressure of the England shirt had prevented previous teams from playing at their best.

He said: “It’s hard to say. For me, it’s a strange one — maybe the mentality, we’re a bit afraid to say we want to win, which has made us go into our shell a bit. We’ve got to think we’re not afraid to say we want to win.

“We just need to play better. When you play these tournaments you can’t afford to be 75 percent. You have to be 110 percent. We’ve done everything we can to prepare but it comes down to what happens on the pitch.

“Whereas what I am trying to say is look, we’re not afraid to say we want to win it because every country wants to win it.

“We have to be brave, we have to take it on the chin. Whether we go out at the group stage or the semifinal, it’s the same — you don’t win the World Cup.

“That’s what we’ve got to try and discuss as players, to have no fear, just when we talk about it we want to win it and we go from there.”