Harry Kane feels in the form of his life as England’s free-scoring skipper counts down the days until the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s men are looking to add a second star to their shirts after Gareth Southgate led them to within a whisker of matching Alf Ramsey’s heroes of 1966.
Kane captained England in each of those four tournaments and is preparing to lead the back-to-back European Championship runners-up at a third World Cup this summer.
The Bayern Munich sharpshooter heads into the tournament in exquisite form, which continued with Saturday’s sublime header in the 1-0 win against New Zealand – this season’s 67th goal for club and country.
“Look, playing for England is my favourite thing to do,” England captain Kane said.
“I wear the shirt with immense pride, I wear the armband with immense pride, trying to set the right example for my team-mates, the staff, but also the fans and the country.
“To be able to lead another group of guys into another World Cup is obviously a special feeling.
“We go into it with high expectations, so for me I’m just excited for this thing to get going. I feel as good as I’ve ever felt and it can’t come soon enough.”
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England open their World Cup campaign against 2018 semi-final foes Croatia in Dallas on June 17 and began preparations for the tournament after arriving in Florida on Monday.
Tuchel named a different team in each half of Saturday’s friendly against New Zealand as part of groundwork that continues with Wednesday’s final warm-up friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando.
Kane said after scoring his 79th England goal: “I think it’s important always as a striker. You know what I’m like. I want to be on the scoresheet as much as possible.
“Obviously I knew I was only playing 45 minutes today, so to get kind of it in stoppage-time of the first half was a nicer feeling than if it went 0-0.
“But, look, we’re here for preparation, we’re here for getting fitness, dealing with the heat, dealing with these type of pitches, so ultimately it’s another day done and we look forward to another friendly game in a few days.”
While England boss Tuchel was unhappy with some of the “freestyle” football shown in the first half against New Zealand, emerging unscathed from the patchwork pitch was a boost.
Kane admitted the surface was “a bit sticky” as they were made to sweat in 33 degrees Celsius heat, but the skipper feels talk about the conditions have been overblown.
“To be honest, I don’t think the heat’s been too bad,” the striker, who played at last year’s Club World Cup in America, added.
“Obviously, we’ve been getting used to it in training. After the first couple of days, I felt like most of the lads were used to it.
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Harry Kane goal hands England victory over New Zealand in World Cup warm-up
“Today actually didn’t feel terrible out there, so I think there’s a talking point that might get over spoke about, to be honest.
“We’re all professional athletes. We all have done the right preparation to get ready for this tournament between us and the staff as well.
“We have another 10 days or so until that first game, training in this environment, so I think come the tournament, it won’t be a factor.”
