Английн шигшээ багийн ахлагч Харри Кэйн дэлхийн аваргын тэмцээнд өндөр түвшний тоглолтоо үзүүлж, багийнхаа итгэл найдвар болон тэргүүлж байна.
Арсеналын академиас есөн настайдаа хасагдсан нь Кэйний хувьд хэцүү сорилт байсан ч түүний эцэг “Үргэлжлүүлээд хичээцгээе” хэмээн дэмжсэн нь түүний тэсвэр тэвчээрийн эхлэл болжээ. Тэрээр 2013 онд Томи Брэдигийн тухай баримтат киног үзсэний дараа өөртөө итгэх итгэлээ олж, дутагдалтай талуудаа давуу тал болгон хөгжүүлснээр дэлхийн шилдэг довтлогчдын нэг болсон юм.
Кэйн торгуулийн цохилт гүйцэтгэхдээ нарийн дэс дараалалтай зан үйл үйлддэг нь түүнийг сэтгэл зүйн хувьд тайван байлгаж, 87 хувийн амжилттай гүйцэтгэхэд нь тусалдаг. Тэрээр талбай дээрх тоглолт болон бэлтгэлийн үеэр дөлгөөн, тууштай байдлыг эрхэмлэдэг нь багийнхандаа үлгэр дуурайл болж, Английн шигшээд эерэг соёлыг төлөвшүүлж байна.
Дэлхийн аваргын шөвгийн 32-ын шатанд Бүгд Найрамдах Ардчилсан Конго Улсын эсрэг хоёр гоол оруулсан нь түүний бэлтгэл сургуулилт, тоглолтыг урьдчилан төсөөлөх чадварын үр дүн байв. Энтони Гордоны дамжуулалтаар мөргөж гоолдон, улмаар тэнцвэрээ алдсан үедээ гайхалтай цохилт гүйцэтгэсэн нь түүний хурц мэдрэмжийг илтгэсэн юм. Норвегийн эсрэг шөвгийн наймын тоглолтод бэлтгэж буй Кэйн өдгөө Английн шигшээг түүхэн амжилтад хөтлөх гол хүн хэвээр байна.
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This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak’s newsletter here.
The advice came when Harry Kane was young, not long after he was released from Arsenal academy.
Kane was 9 years old and a little bit “podgy,” still growing into his body. He wasn’t particularly quick, and he did not run that well, and compared to his peers in the academy, he was a little underdeveloped. The youth coaches were unimpressed.
For Kane, the disappointment of the rejection provides a tidy origin story, a source of his tenacity and resilience. Yet when he recalled the moment years later in a piece for The Players Tribune, it was his father’s reaction that stayed with him.
“Well,” his dad told him, “let’s get on with it then.”
His father wasn’t upset, and he wasn’t emotional, and he didn’t attempt to point fingers or dole out blame. He just told Kane that it was time to find another team.
We’ll work harder.
At 32, Kane is one of the leading stars of this World Cup, an elite striker at the height of his powers, a steadfast captain leading England on another run.
His prolific goal scoring, consistent professionalism and composure under pressure have made him an emotional pillar for a country seeking its first World Cup trophy in 60 years. Yet it’s the contours of his journey — from overlooked academy player to late-blooming professional to one of the best strikers in the world — that provide a useful sports parable.
This is Kane’s third World Cup — and fifth major tournament — as the captain of England. So as his team prepped for a quarterfinal matchup with Norway, we went through the archives to find our four favorite lessons from his career.
1. It all starts with self-beliefYou’ve probably heard the Tom Brady story. It came more than a decade ago, when Kane was still bouncing around, from Millwall to Norwich City to a frustrating stop at Leicester City.
One day in 2013, Kane was on YouTube when he stumbled upon an old ESPN documentary on Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback. The film was called “The Brady 6,” and it chronicled the improbable beginnings of Brady’s career, how six other quarterbacks were selected before him in the 2000 NFL Draft.
Kane was a sports fan who was curious about American football and the paths of great athletes, but he didn’t know much about the particulars of Brady, then in the prime of his career. Kane listened to the scouting descriptions that plagued Brady — poor build, skinny, lacks a strong arm — and he saw the now-famous photo of a schlubby Brady at the NFL Scouting Combine. The story struck a chord.
Kane had spent the previous years on loan, struggling to establish himself. His athleticism was still a question. He didn’t look like a proper striker. He was technically gifted and obsessed with the game. He’d always had a knack for scoring goals.
The film, however, gave him a permission structure to believe in himself. Fueled by the doubt and motivated to prove people wrong, he internalized Brady’s general message: If he did not believe in himself, who else was going to?
His limitations did not matter. He could overcome them. It did not matter what he looked like. He could still become the best. Rejection, he realized, was the best thing that ever happened to him.
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2. The performance power of ritual: create habits
Before every penalty kick, Kane completes a series of steps.
He places the ball on the spot, cleans his boots and adjusts his socks and shirt. He takes seven steps back, breathes in deeply and then hunches over, taking another deep breath. The focus is on each step, on the preparation that led up to the moment.
For years, scientists have studied the effect of ritual on performance. They can calm anxiety, reduce the brain’s natural response to failure and offer people a sense of control.
In some cases, it doesn’t even matter if the person has no pre-existing belief in the ritual itself. It only matters that it is rigid, repetitive and performed in a sequence. That alone can calm nerves.
Kane is one of the best penalty takers of his generation. His conversion rate hovers near 87 percent, and excluding shootouts, he holds the record for successful penalties at the World Cup with six. He researches goalkeepers, studies tendencies and likes to remind himself that the odds are in his favor, which only boosts his confidence.
It starts with routine.
3. The value of boring leadership
By nearly any measure, Kane is not a loud personality. His boots are made by Skechers, the American apparel company. His public comments are understated, straightforward and efficient. As far as hobbies go, his biggest may be golf, an activity he calls meditation.
And yet, Kane has emerged as one of the most enduring leaders in the history of the England national team, helping lay the foundation for one of England’s most successful eras.
His presence is a testament to the value of boring leadership.
“When you are around someone like that, you want to pick up as many habits and watch everything he does to see why he’s at that level, and it’s no accident,” England’s Anthony Gordon told reporters. “His consistency every day, how hard he works, every finish in drills, he does it with passion, he does it with seriousness.”
When Kane first came into the England squad, the captain was Wayne Rooney, who called him on the phone to personally welcome him. It was the kind of leadership he wanted to emulate: personal, authentic, drama-free.
He wanted players to feel free to be themselves. He wanted the environment to be “chilled out.”
In management psychology, there is a saying: Nobody gets credit for fixing problems that never happened. It’s a leadership idea Kane seems to embrace.
“It takes a long time to build (culture),” he told reporters in 2024, “and maybe not so long to lose if you’re not careful.”
4. Creativity is a byproduct of preparation
Of all the skills that allow Kane to thrive, the most important may be what he has called his “football brain.” His sense of movement. His spatial awareness. His ability to create space for himself and others.
When he was young, he played in the midfield, which allowed him to see the game from different angles. But his creativity is not solely instinctual. It comes from preparation.
Before every game, Kane uses a series of mental imagery techniques, visualizing every scenario in which he may score.
The mental images are surprisingly detailed, which researchers have found is more effective. When a person vividly imagines themselves doing something, using more than one sense, it activates the pathways in the brain as when you actually do it, a concept known as functional equivalence. So Kane imagines, for instance, taking on a specific opponent and the exact cut of the grass.
It’s not all that different from another habit used by Brady, who used to write down plays on a sheet of paper as he visualized them in his head.
When Kane scored twice against DR Congo in the round of 32, it all came to the surface. The first goal came when he found space to head home a cross from Gordon. The second came on a brilliant off-balance strike.
It was vintage Kane.
“There is a type of player I admire,” Mauricio Pochettino, Kane’s former manager at Tottenham, once wrote. “One that is always ready, who hardly ever doubts himself and knows how to give, and how to take. That’s what Harry Kane exudes.”
