Harry Kane is hoping for a Hollywood ending to his first year at Bayern Munich as he targets success for both club and country to bring an end to his trophy hoodoo.
The England captain left boyhood club Tottenham to move to Germany last month and will be aiming to help Bayern win a 12th successive Bundesliga title.
It would be the first major honour of his career and – with a Champions League final at Wembley and the Euro 2024 finals taking place in Germany – Kane could yet lift silverware at homes old and new, having already watched a number of his England team-mates win the game’s top prizes.
“I have been told about the Champions League final in Wembley. I know the Euros are in Germany next summer so if there’s someone out there writing a movie, I will try and do my best to make it happen!” he said.
“It’s hard. There’s so much time to go I don’t want to think about it too much, but if it did happen it would be incredible.
“As a competitor, when the (England) boys are playing the Champions League and I am just sitting at home watching it, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that hurt.
“Of course, I want them to do well – Kyle (Walker) and all those guys to win when they are in competitions I am not in – but a part of me wants to have those experiences.
“With the other players in the team having done that, I am not sure jealous is the right word, but it does motivate me to go on and try to push myself towards some of those trophies the guys have got.”
Kane, 30, already holds the records as top goalscorer for both England and Tottenham, but left the Premier League 47 goals shy of Alan Shearer’s unrivalled tally of 260.
While there were plenty of suggestions breaking that record was front and centre in Kane’s thinking – his move to Bayern on a four-year deal seriously dents those chances and he insists winning trophies would always trump personal accolades.
“I think there was a lot of talk about it (the record) and the fact I was getting closer to it, but I have never been anybody who has chased individual honours ahead of team awards,” he said.
“I have said before in interviews, ultimately it comes down to me to see how good I can be and I felt like I had to be playing Champions League football and competing for titles each year. Bayern Munich definitely gives me that.
“The record, of course, would be amazing and it might be amazing if one day I do end up breaking it. But it is not why I play football and my move shows that.”
England boss Gareth Southgate suggested last week that Kane winning trophies would be a good thing for the national team, something the striker agreed with.
“I think so,” he added. “Of course, there is no hiding the fact it is the one thing missing from my career at the moment and when you have got players in the squad who have won things, you want to be part of that as well and have those experiences as well.
“Just the experiences of having title runs and cup runs and hopefully a Champions League run will only add, hopefully, to handling pressure in certain situations. If we are going to win anything with England we are going to have to deal with that. Me, being captain, I want to put myself in that position as much as possible.
“Whether I win or not, I the decision (to join Bayern) came down to putting me in those situations. With Bayern Munich sometimes we expect them to win because they have won it for the last 11 years.
“In my short period there is still a lot of pressure to win these trophies. We have not won the cup for a few years and we have not won the Champions League for a few years so there is definitely a lot to gain and a lot of pressure to take.
“Time will tell, but at the moment I am enjoying that feeling and for the rest of the year it is a good competition to have.”
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season
Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.
Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.
She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.
The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.
"Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.
"As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
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