Manuel Neuer dived to his left. Memory told him that was where Harry Kane beat him last time they duked it out, face-to-face, from the penalty spot. On that occasion, back in the autumn of 2019, Neuer had almost reached Kane’s rocket of a low spot-kick.
Kane had that past moment, part of a 7-2 thrashing of his Tottenham Hotspur by Neuer’s Bayern Munich in the Champions League, etched in his mind late on Tuesday when England were awarded their penalty, for a trip on Kane, against Neuer’s Germany in the Uefa Nations League.
The England captain keeps meticulous mental notes. He revised them and second-guessed Neuer’s instincts, firing into the opposite corner to where Neuer launched himself.
Kane keeps careful tabs on all his numbers, too, happily admitting that he measures his statistics as a goalscorer against the facts and figures boasted by the best attacking players past and present. So when, penalty converted, he sprinted towards the spectators in Munich, arms spread wide, he knew he had reached a significant landmark. It was Kane’s 50th goal for his country, three shy of Wayne Rooney's England record.
He joins a select group of modern strikers who will go to the World Cup in November with half a century – or more – of international goals to their names. Cristiano Ronaldo has 117. Lionel Messi has just taken his total from 81 to 86 in a single, one-sided friendly against Estonia. Robert Lewandowski and Neymar are in the mid-70s for goals for Poland and Brazil. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have 62 and 56 goals respectively for Uruguay.
What those exemplary strikers also share is that they are over 30, and if Neymar, who turns 31 in February, need not necessarily fear that his next World Cup may be his last, Ronaldo, Messi, Suarez, Cavani, and Lewandowski must regard that as a strong possibility.
Kane, meanwhile, is only 28 years old and has a rounded set of skills that should mean he remains an elite footballer once the powers of acceleration begin to fade. He can look forward to several more tournaments, and matches, playing for an England equipped with top-class accomplices.
By modern standards, Kane has reached his 50 in a very quick time. The 1-1 draw in Munich was his 71st cap. He has been a senior England player for just over seven years. Messi reached 50 goals for his country in his 11th season as an Argentina player, Ronaldo more or less the same.
England v Germany ratings
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GERMANY RATINGS: Manuel Neuer 7 - Made one incredible stop, maybe slightly lucky in terms of it pinging off his hip, when he got himself across his goal to deny Harry Kane with 15 minutes to go. Looked comfortable for the most part, more so than some outfield players while in possession. AP -
Lukas Klostermann 6 - The RB Leipzig man looked comfortable defending against Sterling and Kane and covered well when others were caught out of possession. EPA -
Antonio Rudiger 6 - The Real Madrid signing made some good blocks and interceptions, many of the things he did well for Chelsea, but doesn’t always look comfortable in possession. Did enough to limit most of England’s chances to shots from distance, so did his job. Reuters -
Nico Schlotterbeck 6 - Dortmund’s new signing accidentally came together with Kane with six minutes remaining and conceded the penalty that gave England the equaliser. Defended well against Kane for the most part and limited the Tottenham man to half chances, but didn’t use the ball particularly well. EPA -
Jonas Hofmann 8 - The midfielder received a pass from Kimmich a couple of yards inside the England penalty area, controlled and swivelled all in one movement before smashing the ball past Pickford. Caused England’s defenders problems all night with his well timed forward runs from midfield. Getty Images -
Joshua Kimmich 7 - Played the decisive pass for the goal when he zipped the ball into Hofmann’s feet. A high energy display showcasing his pressing ability to stifle Rice and Belllingham in the England midfield. PA -
Ilkay Gundogan 6 - A quiet night for the Manchester City schemer, but still kept the play ticking over in the German midfield and continually tested the full-backs by attempting to slide balls up the inside of Trippier and Walker. PA -
David Raum 7 - Worked well with Musiala as Germany created problems for England down that side. Lovely cross that he stood up to the back post for a Havertz chance in the first half. AP Photo -
Thomas Muller 6 - A quiet night by his standards, but still showed enough quality to cause England concern when he got on the ball in the attacking third. Reuters -
Jamal Musiala 8 - Stung Pickford's hands with a solid strike in the first minute as Germany signalled their intent early on. The Bayern Munich winger had a willingness to drive at the visitors and produced an end product with multiple shots and crosses. Man of the match. EPA -
Kai Havertz 7 - Should’ve done better with a header when he rose above Kieran Trippier at the back post 10 minutes before half time. Overall though, did enough to cause Maguire and Stones plenty of problems. EPA -
SUBS: Serge Gnarby 5 - The Bayern Munich winger who could be on his way to Arsenal replaced goalscorer Hofmann on 65 mins. Reuters -
Timo Werner 5 - Came on for Jamal Musiala with 25 minutes to go. The Chelsea man looked lively and caused England some problems down that right hand side. EPA -
Leon Goretzka N/A - Replaced Muller on 76 minutes and almost got in on a couple of occasions. EPA -
Leroy Sane N/A - On for Gundogan with seven minutes remaining. Had a couple of runs as Germany pushed for the winner. Getty -
ENGLAND RATINGS: Jordan Pickford 4 - Got a hand to Hofmann’s strike which was straight at him, but somehow almost dived out of the way and couldn’t keep it out. Good stop at the near post from Muller, but also a save you’d expect a goalkeeper to make. Did well to deny Werner on the counter. Shouted a lot. Action Images -
Kyle Walker 6 - Vital piece of defending after only two minutes when got in front of Musiala at the back post and somehow flicked the ball over his own cross bar from a yard out. Defended well apart from suspect positioning for the goal when he should’ve recognised the danger. Getty Images -
John Stones 5 - Did OK. Didn’t make any glaring errors, but didn’t really assert himself on the match either. Reuters -
Harry Maguire 3 - The Manchester United defender got lucky in the first half when he got himself tangled up with Havertz and the ball bounced through to Hofmann who was in an offside position. Posted missing for Hofmann’s goal when he inexplicably wandered out of position. Reuters -
Kieran Trippier 6 - Did just enough to deny Havertz’s opening the scoring with a header at the far post when the Chelsea striker looked to have the leverage and momentum as he rose above the Newcastle United defender. He also made some timely recovery challenges and interceptions as Germany tried to slide balls between himself and Maguire down England’s left hand side. AFP -
Declan Rice 5 - Made a bad decision to vacate his slot in front of the defence as Germany attacked for their goal, which had a knock on effect for Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker’s equally poor decisions thereafter. The West Ham skipper worked tirelessly as always and had a better second half, but didn’t really click with Bellingham in the England engine room. AP Photo -
Kalvin Phillips N/A - It’s been an injury riddled season for the Leeds midfielder, and unfortunately, he didn’t last a quarter-of-an-hour here after sustaining an injury in an accidental clash with Schlotterbeck. Replaced by Jude Bellingham. Reuters -
Bukayo Saka 5 - Showed good feet to make half a yard on the right to unleash in a fierce strike which Neuer dealt with well. England's best and only chance of the first half was followed minutes later when the Arsenal man cut in from the right and had Neuer scrambling to cover a powerful curling left foot effort from the edge of the box. Reuters -
Mason Mount 6 - Forgot the Chelsea midfielder was on the pitch until he slid in Saka for a near post strike. Tested Neuer from distance just after the England goal, but the Bayern Munich stopper dived to his right to make a good save. Was more involved and looked dangerous early in the second half as he tried to take a hold of the gam. Getty Images -
Raheem Sterling 4 - A quiet night for the Manchester City forward and he was replaced by Bowen with 10 minutes remaining. He didn’t do much to affect the game for the 80 odd minutes he was on the pitch. PA -
Harry Kane 6 - Got a bit lucky when he felt Schlotterbeck’s contact for the penalty and VAR asked referee Carlos del Cerro Grande to take another look. Dispatched the spot kick, sending Manuel Neuer the wrong way for his 50th international goal. EPA -
SUBS: Jude Bellingham 6 - Replaced the injured Kalvin Philips after 14 minutes. Gave possession away far too easily and on too many occasions and was unable to play the simple pass. AFP -
Jack Grealish 6 - Initiated a bit of a momentum shift when he came on for Mason Mount on 73 minutes. The City schemer injected some positivity into another flat English display, creating chances with positive runs and dangerous balls into the Germany penalty area. Getty -
Jarrod Bowen 6 - Replaced Sterling with 10 minutes remaining. Looked lively and rifled an excellent ball across the face of the German six yard box that was just begging to be put away. EPA
Granted, Ronaldo’s towering record for Portugal grew from 50 to well past 100 rather faster. It may be a very long while before his total, from 188 caps so far, is eclipsed.
For European national teams, there are fewer friendlies now that the Nations League has entered the calendar, and that reduces a little the number of punchbag opponents for a ruthless centre-forward to rack up goals against.
But England can still bank on the odd gift in qualifying groups. Last November, Kane moved from 41 international goals to 48 in the space of just over two hours on the pitch against Albania (he scored a hat-trick), and San Marino (he struck four times in 15 minutes in a 10-0 win).
Should Kane continue in his current vein into his mid-30s, he would begin to glimpse a century of international goals. And why not? He is a model professional in his care of his body and in his studious search for ways to improve and develop new aspects of his game.
Top international scorers of all time
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117 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, 188 appearances, as of June 6, 2022). Getty Images -
109 - Ali Daei (Iran, 148 appearances, pictured); 89 - Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia, 142 appearances). Getty Images -
86 - Lionel Messi (Argentina, 162 appearances - as of June 6, 2022). Getty Images -
84 - Ferenc Puskas (Hungary, 85 appearances). AFP -
80 - Ali Mabkhout (UAE, 104 appearances - as of June 6, 2022). AFP -
80 - Sunil Chhetri (India, 126 appearances - as of June 6, 2022). Reuters -
79 - Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia, 111 appearances); 78 - Mohammed Hussein Said (Iran, 107 appearances, pictured). AFP -
77 - Pele (Brazil, 92 appearances). Getty -
75 - Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan, 76 appearances). AP Photo -
75 - Robert Lewandowski (Poland, 130 appearances). Getty Images -
75 - Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait, 134 appearances, pictured); 72 - Majed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia, 117 appearances). AFP -
71 - Miroslav Klose (Germany, 137 appearances); 71 - Kinnah Phiri (Malawi, 117 appearances); 71 - Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thailand, 134 appearances). Getty Images
“Exceptional,” said the England manager Gareth Southgate of his skipper, praising the landmark goal but also drawing attention to Kane’s work outside the opposition penalty area, from where he has scored 48 of his England goals.
“Fifty goals will be the story,” said Southgate, “but the way he led the line, competed, pressed was exceptional. He gives us so many options. The moments when he takes the ball and relieves the pressure are an important part of his game. I know people say he drops too deep but you need a player that can come and link the game.
“When you have runners past him like Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount, that part of his game comes into its own.”
Those sorts of lively runners also create the conditions for free-kicks and penalties. Kane the muscular poacher has profited from the finessing, under Southgate, of England’s effectiveness from set-pieces. And nobody will be seizing penalty duties – 15 of his England goals have come from the spot –from the skipper any time soon.
