‘I really might not be where I am today without that performance’: Harry Kane picks the games that changed his life
The England captain opens up on memories of his favourite performances for club and country
Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane has picked out four games which changed his life, in an exclusive sit-down feature with FourFourTwo.
The 30-year-old forward moved to Germany in the summer of 2023 and has since gone from strength to strength as he continues to establish himself as one of Europe's best centre-forward.
From humble beginnings at Spurs to loan spells with Millwall and Leyton Orient, the England captain reveals all and picks four of his favourite footballing memories...
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4. Rochdale 1-1 Leyton Orient (January 15, 2011)
“I have to kick things off here with my professional debut for Leyton Orient, in League One, away against Rochdale. I was on loan from Tottenham at the time and it was a cold, wet and windy day.
"As a young boy growing up, all I had ever dreamed about was playing professional football one day, so even though this wasn’t the level that in time I wanted to get to, just to play a professional game for a great old club like Leyton Orient was a dream come true.
"I was named on the bench and I was desperate to come on and play – I kept looking at the manager [Russell Slade], hoping he’d give me the nod! Eventually that nod came and I went on for the last 20 minutes or so. That afternoon really got me up and running in my professional career.”
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3. Spurs 5-1 Sunderland (April 7, 2014)
“I need to include my first Tottenham start in the Premier League. We won 5-1 against Sunderland at White Hart Lane and I scored.
"My first start in the Premier League was another dream come true – I had made a few late cameos before that game, but I saw my first start as a chance to prove that I could do it at that level.
"To score and win the game set me off on a good run of scoring – from there, things just went up and up. I always look back at that game and wonder what might have happened if I hadn’t played so well and if I hadn’t scored.
"I wonder if things may not have worked out the way they have, so being able to take my chance that day was important. I really might not be where I am today without that performance.”
2. England 4-0 Lithuania (March 27, 2015)
“Playing for England means the world to me, so I have to choose my debut. It was a magical moment to do it at Wembley – to score in that stadium, in front of my friends and family, was just everything I had dreamed of as a boy growing up.
"I remember being told by the manager Roy Hodgson that I was going to come on for the last 20 minutes and feeling like everything that had happened to me in my whole life had led up to that moment.
"I was a ball of nerves and energy, but also felt ready to take my chance. To mark my debut on the international stage with a goal inside two minutes of coming on was very special.
"Playing for England still always gives me that buzz, no matter how many times I get picked. You never lose that pride.”
1. Tunisia 1-2 England (June 18, 2018)
“Lastly, I’ll choose the game against Tunisia at the World Cup in 2018. That was my first World Cup, the biggest competition in the world and the highest pressure you can feel in football.
"To go out there in my first game on that stage and score two goals, including the winning goal in the last minute, put me on a bigger platform and made people around the world take notice.
"We went on to have a decent tournament, reaching the semi-finals, and that moment of scoring a last-minute goal in a World Cup – a tournament that I have been watching my whole life – was just incredible.
"Scoring goals for England is something that will stay with you forever, especially the ones in the big tournaments and the big matches.”
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Matthew is a Freelance Journalist and has racked up bylines for Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, GOAL and SPORTbible to name a few. A long-term sufferer of Scunthorpe United, he currently resides in the north-west after escaping the smog of North Lincolnshire.