Sky is the limit for meticulous Harry Kane in pursuit of international goals century

Manuel Neuer dived to his left. Memory told him that was where Harry Kane beat him last time they duked it out, face-to-face, from the penalty spot. On that occasion, back in the autumn of 2019, Neuer had almost reached Kane’s rocket of a low spot-kick.

Kane had that past moment, part of a 7-2 thrashing of his Tottenham Hotspur by Neuer’s Bayern Munich in the Champions League, etched in his mind late on Tuesday when England were awarded their penalty, for a trip on Kane, against Neuer’s Germany in the Uefa Nations League.

The England captain keeps meticulous mental notes. He revised them and second-guessed Neuer’s instincts, firing into the opposite corner to where Neuer launched himself.

Kane keeps careful tabs on all his numbers, too, happily admitting that he measures his statistics as a goalscorer against the facts and figures boasted by the best attacking players past and present. So when, penalty converted, he sprinted towards the spectators in Munich, arms spread wide, he knew he had reached a significant landmark. It was Kane’s 50th goal for his country, three shy of Wayne Rooney's England record.

He joins a select group of modern strikers who will go to the World Cup in November with half a century – or more – of international goals to their names. Cristiano Ronaldo has 117. Lionel Messi has just taken his total from 81 to 86 in a single, one-sided friendly against Estonia. Robert Lewandowski and Neymar are in the mid-70s for goals for Poland and Brazil. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have 62 and 56 goals respectively for Uruguay.

What those exemplary strikers also share is that they are over 30, and if Neymar, who turns 31 in February, need not necessarily fear that his next World Cup may be his last, Ronaldo,