Can Harry Kane outshine the best international striker captains in modern times?
There’s a lot pressure being England captain.
It gets even worse when a load of former legends say it shouldn’t be you.
That’s what Harry Kane is dealing with right now after Gareth Southgate announced the striker was being given the armband for the World Cup.
Suits you HarryGetty - Contributor
Among others Paul Scholes has come and said that he doesn’t think a centre-forward should be captain.
Of course we know all about the likes of Carles Puyol and Fabio Cannavaro leading their teams to greatness from defence and Zinedine Zidane leading by example in midfield.
Which got us thinking – have there been any successful international striker captains?
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Just do what you’ve been doing all season HazzaAFP or licensors
Well we’ve scoured the globe to bring you the best international captains that have also been centre forwards.
Essentially proof that England will win the World Cup.
Paolo Guerrero, Peru
Captain and talismanReuters
We start off with a banger.
Guerrero is Peru’s all-time record goalscorer and it was his goals that fired the South Americans to their first World Cup since 1982.
A true leader.
Sadly it looks like he won’t get a chance to play in Russia after a controversial ban for testing positive for a substance found in cocaine.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden
Captain [noun] definition: IbrahimovicAFP or licensorsZlatan made 39 appearances for Sweden wearing the armband but he always the head honcho whoever was officially named captain.
Ibra was given the honour ahead of Euro 2012 and it spurred him on to some brilliant perfromances for his country.
He led a record fight back to 4-4 after conceding four goals to Germany and retired as Sweden’s top scorer with 62 in 112 games.
Worked pretty well making Zlatan captain, didn’t it?
Wayne Rooney, England
If only he’d never broken that metatarsalEPA
The man Kane is taking the armband from.
Following the theme Rooney became England’s all-time top scorer as captain and led the team after the fiasco in Brazil in 2014 to a new fiasco against Iceland in 2016.
Despite all of that, never had a problem in the qualifiers and helped to bring through a new generation of England players.
More than just a front man.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
He captains, he manages…--
Now we come to the creme de la creme of international striker captains.
You might think Ronaldo has to do it all when he plays for Portugal and you’d be right.
He has led an uninspiring team to heights they never thought they would reach.
Using all of talent to push the Portuguese to the final of the Euro 2016 – and then injury struck.
But like a proper captain would, CR7 stood on the touchline and coached his team home to a remarkable trophy.
Captain, leader, legend.
CLAIM YOUR FREE £20 BET Sun Bets have this brilliant offer when you sign up and bet a fiver Diego Forlan, Uruguay
Memories flooding backReuters
Forlan took Uruguay to arguably their greatest height in living memory.
In the 2010 World Cup they were one of the most exciting teams to watch and he was joint top scorer at the tournament with five goals.
Sadly the Uruguayans lost to Holland in the semis but Forlan will go down in history as a great striker captain.
First Uruguayan to 100 caps and was the country’s top scorer until Luis Suarez turned up.
Diego Godin now holds the keys.
Lionel Messi, Argentina
One of football’s greatest sightsAFP
Argentina have gone down the classic playground route of ‘give it to your best player’ by making Messi captain.
The GOAT is another captain and record scorer but his time has leader has been a success tainted with failure.
Messi led the team to three successive finals at the 2014 World Cup and the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, however they lost all three.
The Barca has a chance this summer to write his name in Argentinian folklore forever, if he can bring their most desired trophy home.
No pressure, Leo.
Bryan Ruiz, Costa Rica
AFP
Last but by no means least, Ruiz is a Costa Rican legend a universally loved at home as his country’s captain.
He was the inspiration behind Costa Rica’s brilliant 2014 World Cup campaign as they beat Uruguay and Italy and kept a clean sheet to England.
Ruiz also scored for the minnows against Gianluigi Buffon at a World Cup.
Build the statue now.
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The game officially launches on June 1 – but you can pre-register for the game now.
If you’re an existing Dream Team customer the World Cup game now appears in the app or you can enter here, but if you’re not follow these simple steps:
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