Harry Kane was delighted to be in the same “conversation” as Wayne Rooney after breaking his Champions League record in style.
The Bayern Munich striker went into Tuesday night’s clash with Dinamo Zagreb needing one goal to equal Rooney’s record for an Englishman of 30 in the competition’s main draw.
Ninety minutes later, the current England captain was three ahead of one of his predecessors having plundered four goals in a 9-2 win at the Allianz Arena, three of them from the penalty spot.
Kane told Prime Video: “Whenever you’re in a conversation with Wayne Rooney, it means you’re doing something well. He’s one of the greatest English players and one of the best players there was in the game.
“It’s a nice achievement.”
Kane needed just 19 minutes to match Rooney’s mark from the spot and doubled his tally from open play 12 minutes after the interval before converting twice more from 12 yards.
The 31-year-old said: “It’s the first time I’ve ever had three penalties in one game. It was a different feeling for me, but to score four goals is fantastic.
“To help the team in any way possible is important. Whether they’re penalties or normal finishes, I’ll take them all. It was a great night for us.”
If Kane added a new record to his haul of honours, there will also be a nice surprise for three-year-old son Louis when he gets up on Wednesday morning.
The striker said: “I keep all the balls after hat-tricks. The lads might be sick of signing them, but keep them coming.
“My son Louis, he loves playing football right now. He’s only three, but I’ll take it home and put it next to his bed and he’ll be happy when he wakes up in the morning.”
Bayern led 3-0 at the break with Raphael Guerreiro and Michael Olise also on the scoresheet, and although Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara briefly dragged the visitors back into it, Kane’s second-half hat-trick and further goals from Olise and substitutes Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka extended their perfect start to the season under Vincent Kompany.
Kane said: “We’ve come back with a good energy. We’ve been hungry. You saw that straight away in pre-season with the new coach. Everyone has a point to prove here and we’ve started the season that way.
“The way the coach wants us to press and be intense with and without the ball is important. We know we can dominate teams with the quality we have.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here