IT IS easy to forget just how much professional footballers love football.
Among all the moans and groans, the injuries and disappointments, the passion shines through.
Harry Kane is in the first rank of earners and you can bet your life that he finds the £17m-a-year he’s paid by Bayern Munich very sweet indeed.
Yet his personal ambition is to be the first player to score a century of goals for England.
He needs another 32 which, at his current rate, will take him three or four years and into his mid-30s.
After his golden boots delivered a precise double against Finland on Tuesday, the target remains distant but a little closer.
Thoughts of an early retirement are not in mind, then. However, there are several adverse factors.
He does have a good record of staying fit but in time he is also bound to have younger rivals for his position.
Age has not been a problem for Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of 132 goals in 214 games for Portugal and, within five months of his 40th birthday, still jumping Olympian heights.
Neither was it for the legendary Stanley Matthews, in his 51st year when in 1953 he last wore the tasselled cap then awarded to England players.
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The ‘Wizard of Dribble’ scored 11 times in 54 appearances for his country and was the first footballer to be knighted.
What that paragraph doesn’t tell you is that another Stanley of Blackpool — Stan Mortensen — scored 197 goals in 317 games, many of them teed up by Matthews.
HARRY KANE is already England’s all-time record goalscorer.
But the Three Lions skipper will NOT be stopping there.
To mark his 100th cap for his country, Kane spoke to SunSport’s CHARLIE WYETT about some of his special England goals….
FIRST ENGLAND GOAL
“My debut v Lithuania. March 2015.
“There was a lot of talk in the build-up to that camp because I was playing well for Spurs.
“I got a great reception and within a couple of minutes I scored a goal.
“I don’t think I could have dreamed it any better.
“My friends and family were there. That was a really special night.”
FAVOURITE ENGLAND GOAL
“It’s between two, for me.
“Against Germany, the one at Wembley in Euro 2020.
“Also, the header against Tunisia at the World Cup in 2018.
“That moment of scoring a last-minute winner at my first World Cup was special.”
BEST ENGLAND GOAL
“The one I scored in Poland away in a World Cup qualifier in 2021. It was from 25 yards.”
(Kane picked up the ball from Kyle Walker, advanced towards goal and put his foot through it.)
“It kind of drifted away and it was a good strike, probably my furthest-out goal for England.”
A further 23 came in 25 internationals and he retired at 40.
He was in the right winger’s shadow to such an extent that the 1953 FA Cup final is known as the ‘Matthews final’ even though Mortensen scored a hat-trick.
At his funeral, someone observed: “I suppose they’ll call it the Matthews funeral.” And no gong whatsoever.
Goalkeepers are the ageing warriors of our game.
At West Ham we have the current leader of the Premier League pack in Lukasz Fabianski at 39 and six months.
In all, four of the top 11 are keepers with outfielders Ashley Young and James Milner second and third.
As we know keepers are rumoured to be slightly eccentric and John Burridge was more so than most.
‘Budgie’ was nearly as much comedian as keeper, and made his final top-flight appearance in 1995, aged 43 — making him the Premier League’s oldest player.
Age has not been a problem for Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of 132 goals in 214 games for Portugal and, within five months of his 40th birthday, still jumping Olympian heights.
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His wife said he used to train by diving off a coal bunker. Then, once, he sat on the crossbar celebrating a win and wore a Superman outfit for a bet when he was playing for Wolves.
Every club has its stalwart heroes and we have a number whose names shine a light on English football.
Three of West Ham’s starred in our World Cup winning team: Sir Geoff Hurst is now 72 while Bobby Moore and Martin Peters are sadly both no longer with us.
Peters was sold to Spurs and retired relatively young but England captain Moore stayed with us for 544 matches and was capped 108 times.
He played until he was 36 and died, tragically young, at 51… and he never got the knighthood he so richly deserved.
In 14 years at the Boleyn ground, Hurst played 411 games and scored 180 for the Hammers and eventually retired at 38.
A statue of all three now stands proudly outside the London Stadium.
For professionals, football is a brief and, in a few cases, an extremely lucrative career.
I am certain it is addictive to every old pro, right to his final whistle.
