Luke Shaw has hailed England captain Harry Kane as the best striker in world football as he closes in on the Three Lions goalscoring record.
Kane’s match-winning penalty in Saturday’s 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland saw him draw level with Sir Bobby Charlton on 49 England goals.
That leaves just Wayne Rooney ahead of him, on 53, as the Tottenham forward continues to lead the way for Gareth Southgate’s side.
All about the performance, World Cup preparations and good to see the young lads get their debuts. Delighted with the win and a goal as well. An honour to join @SirBobby Charlton on 49 goals. Hungry for more. 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/KTDPL5IqEr— Harry Kane (@HKane) March 26, 2022
In all likelihood, with seven games between now and the World Cup in Qatar this winter, Kane could go into the tournament having already eclipsed the record.
Having won the Golden Boot as England reached the semi-finals of the 2018 competition, Shaw believes Kane will now have his eyes on the same prize this time around.
“I don’t see why not,” the Manchester United full-back said.
“For me at the moment, the way he’s playing, he’s one of the best strikers in the world, probably the best. So hopefully you can keep that form up, keep it going.
“He’s showing it week in week out at the moment and it’s a joy to watch. Long may that continue and I’m sure he will be hunting another Golden Boot and all the other records.”
Shaw struck his second international goal to draw England level at Wembley after Breel Embolo had given the visitors the lead.
A fine, rifled finish at the same end where he opened the scoring in England’s ill-fated Euro 2020 final was testament to how Southgate sets up his side.
“I think in this formation Gareth and Steve (Holland) obviously want the wing-backs to get higher,” Shaw told beIN Sports.
“Not just create chances but scoring more goals and thankfully today I could do that and hopefully there’ll be many more to come.”
The performance against Switzerland, who could yet end up facing England in the group stages when the World Cup draw takes place in Qatar next week, may have been tepid at times.
But Shaw insists the team always back themselves to get a result no matter what the scenario.
“The belief, the confidence – I’ve said it many times before, when we’re under pressure in games where it’s not going the way we want to I feel like we’re all together,” he added.
“I think if you want to win games, I think in hard games like this, tough games, we’re going to come across all sorts of games when we’re under pressure.
“The main thing for me is we’re all together and we do that in abundance where we’re really well-drilled and we know what everyone has to do when they step out on that pitch.
“That’s with the ball but definitely without the ball we’re getting better with that, too.”
