The 45th episode of Harry Kane’s enchanted season brings the most demanding examination of the striker’s strength, touch, stamina, resilience and intelligence.
In the shadow of the Alps, Kane runs into robust, experienced centre-halves of the quality of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, warriors protecting their own Juventus back-yard. Facing opponents of great obduracy, Kane’s full England debut is a friendly in name only.
If he can muscle or manoeuvre his way through, Kane then comes up against Gianluigi Buffon, a goalkeeper intimidating enough when singing the Italian national anthem, let alone one on one. Buffon, making his 147th appearance, is ready.
“I think Kane really is the form player at this moment in time in British football and as goalkeepers, and also as a team, we have watched some footage of him," the Juventus legend said.
Italy keeper Gigi Buffon is wary of the threat Kane poses
It is the first stretch of the route to goal that could launch some fireworks. Italian defenders are traditionally the most assiduous of sentries. When England played Italy in Rome in a famously tense World Cup '98 qualifier, Teddy Sheringham observed on the eve of the fray that it was nearly impossible to get a clean run at corners such was Italian expertise at baulking and shirt-pulling.
Wayne Rooney has played against the Italians for club and country and knows he and Kane could run into difficulties. “With Italian defenders, especially the clever defenders, they’ll do anything to try and stop you," England’s captain said. “You need to be aware of that, and not get frustrated.” Asked what he meant by “do anything”, Rooney replied: “I think Italy’s a passionate country. They love their football. They are probably the closest in Europe to South American teams. They’ll do anything to stop you. They’re tough to play against, well-organised, they’ll make it as difficult as they can for us. Italy are the best in Europe at doing that.”
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As his reputation has grown, Kane has increasingly encountered tighter marking in this remarkable season of his, notably from Chelsea in the Capital One Cup final and from Manchester United’s Chris Smalling at Old Trafford. Chiellini and Bonucci as well as Inter Milan’s Andrea Ranocchia resemble another heavyweight challenge. The German referee, Felix Brych, could be busy.
Whoever comes out on top, Kane’s education will have continued. Such tests as this, dealing with Italian defending, will teach him much. West Ham United’s director of youth development, Tony Carr, visited Juventus in 2013, studying the coaching of defending at all age-groups. He particularly noted one session, involving marking at crosses.
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“They were teaching very young players to block the attacker prior to the cross coming in, emphasising to the defenders to put your arm across the attacker so he couldn’t get a run," Carr said of his trip. “Every age-group was doing it. Then we watched them play a game and you could see all the players trying to block players. It was a good technical defensive tactic to be honest. It wasn’t a foul. It was about standing your ground, about not letting him get a run on you.”
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Italians like Chiellini are masters of this art. Rooney will warn Kane, 21, to be mindful of the stunts in store and focus on imposing his own many strengths. “At the minute, what Harry is doing he needs to continue doing," Rooney said. “He’s taking the ball, he’s a handful for defenders, he’s running at the defenders, and getting shots off at goal. That’s all he has to do. I’m sure if he does that the way he has been, he’ll be fine.
“I’m as excited as everyone in the country. He’s had an unbelievable season. Going into the season there were questions of whether he would start for Tottenham. He was starting the Europa League games and doing well but not the league games. But he gave his manager [Mauricio Pochettino] no option but to play him and since then he’s not looked back, he’s scoring goals every week.
“It’s exciting for this group of players to have him come in and see him more closely in training. It will be exciting when we go out on the pitch.
Can Kane replicate his amazing debut against the Azzurri defence?
“After getting his goal after coming on on Friday [against Lithuania], I bet he can’t wait to get out on the pitch and try and give a good performance and try and get another goal. It’s great for English football to have someone scoring so regularly in the Premier League and now coming into international level and getting his goal on his debut.”
Rooney sensibly avoided the question of who Kane reminded him of. “I’ve seen a lot of comparisons out there, but he’s his own player. He’s good in the air, can shoot both feet. The exciting thing about him is he can take the ball on, he’s running at players, which is great to see, a young player doing that. At the moment he’s very confident to score.”
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As he showed against Lithuania. “It’s great to see people like Harry Kane come on the scene and it’s a fairy-tale for him at the moment," Roy Hodgson said. “He’s got the magic touch. Within 80 seconds he got a goal on his debut. It doesn’t get much better. This will be a tougher test, but he’ll start and hopefully he’ll play a large part in it.”
Kane has been a model student, absorbing his match-day responsibilities in team meetings and two sessions out on the training field. “We’ve made it pretty clear what we think his role is, his job is, when we’ve got the ball and when we don’t,’’ Hodgson said. “I’m confident he understands that.”
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Hodgson was at pains to stress that Kane and Rooney were not operating as a partnership, and there are indications that Theo Walcott could play a more central role, but the Kane-Wayne interaction will be closely watched, even if it involves the captain dropping deeper.
It could provide England with a strong axis if they want to use the diamond rather than 4-3-3. “Over the years I’ve played upfront with a lot of different players who all have different qualities," Rooney said.
“I’ve really adapted to the striker I’ve played with whether it was Michael Owen and I was more coming deep, trying to get on the ball and leaving Michael to run in behind. With Emile Heskey I was trying to stay close, he’s a big lad who can hold the ball up and I could get it off him.”
Asked to name one player he would loved to have played with, Rooney replied: “I’d probably say Alan Shearer because I admired him when I was growing up.
“I loved the way he played and he was a real goalscorer, as his record shows. I would have worked well with him as a strike partner.”
Buffon spoke in praise of England’s attack. “Of course Kane is going to be a threat just as Rooney will be," Buffon said. “England have a lot of strings to their bow going forward.”
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