17/10/2025

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SCAN ME

SCAN ME

FRIDAY | OCT 17, 2025

Malaysian Paper

Leading from the front The passionate Kane speech driving England’s World Cup dream I N the Riga dressing room after England had clinched World Cup 2026 qualification with a 5-0 win over Latvia, Harry Kane ders and I guess not being able to execute something that I’ve been trying to execute many a time in my career … I think that was the hardest part to process and take. missing. So I changed my tech nique a little bit, I improved in that sense, which I was proud of. And that’s always what I will try and do.” Kane’s attitude revealed how now, so that leaves 24, and we have a few more games between now and the World Cup, and then try and edge closer to that 100. “The goals are there, and the Ű BY MIGUEL DELANEY

“But yeah, I think the way I learnt from that, the way that moti vated me to get even better and improve, not just from the penalty side in terms of improving my tech nique, but as an all-round player. “After that penalty, I went 31 attempts, I think, without

he’s now targeting 100 goals for England, with his 76 now well ahead of Wayne Rooney’s previous record of 53. The 32-year-old feels he is now a far better player than at Tottenham Hotspur, especially in how he “sees” the game. “The way I’m feeling right now, I’m not slowing down any time soon,” Kane remarked. “I want to stay at this level for as long as I can. “I’m on 76

numbers speak for themselves. The way I feel on the pitch, the way I am seeing the game, physically and without the ball, pressing, I feel in a really good place. “And I feel like I am still learning, and that is down to the work we are doing at Bayern Munich as well as here. Always improving, and I feel like I have stepped up another level this season.” Hence, Kane said it’s always about that next moment, not that last failure, as he told the group. “I’ve been lucky

gave a speech in which he spoke about “keeping the same hunger” and ensuring the next camp is now treated as a proper build-up. This, the captain told less experi enced teammates, is a key to going far in campaigns. But not necessar ily winning them, some might point out, since Kane hasn’t yet done that with England. And yet, in all of this, the goals corer did display an attitude that really separates top players. For all the focus on “winners” and “getting over the line,” it’s often said in elite sport that the true key to that is how you deal with failure. There’s a bit of that with Kane and his last major World Cup moment in 2022. The captain says he doesn’t even think of the missed penalty in the 2-1 quarterfinal defeat to France any more, despite it representing “the worst” he’d ever felt on a pitch. “I don’t think about it too much now. After another major tourna ment, you get over it and get on with it. I scored a penalty in the semifinal of the Euros,

Time to shift narrative

enough to play in two World Cups now,” Kane pointed out. “I just think they are the greatest tournaments to be a part of. “I spoke to some of the guys here who haven’t experienced that yet, trying to tell them how excited they should be, and it’s a great thing to look forward to. “For me, it’s using those experiences to try and help some of

- Story on page 28

which was as high-pres sure as you are going to get. I always try and learn from those moments,” Kane said when discussing England’s ambition to claim World Cup glory next year. “I’d say that was probably the worst that I felt in any moment. Obviously, I’ve lost finals before. “To have that

the other lads, and for them, it’s just to go full gas and enjoy the experi ence. “I said in the changing rooms, never take this for granted, but ulti mately, we will come back in November and there are two more important games to carry on the momentum we are building so far. “In terms of (France) being my last memory (of a World Cup), yeah, I’m looking for ward to the next World Cup to try and put that right, to try and go further, to try and lift the trophy as we all dream of doing.” – The Independent

‘Emulate Arif Aiman’

- Story on page 31

responsibility, you almost feel like it fell on my shoul

England forward Harry Kane. – REUTERSPIC

Malaysian GP set to be roaring success despite absence of world champ

THE Malaysian Prix (MotoGP), to be held at the Sepang International Circuit here from Oct 24-26, is set to be a roaring success despite the absence of seven-time world MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who is injured. SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif is optimistic about this based on two factors: the maiden appearance of talented youngster Muhammad Hakim Danish Ramli in Moto3 and the fact that the race for second Motorcycle Grand

placing in world MotoGP is still wide open. “The fight for second place is still open. So, we have Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) up there with the likes of Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez. “So, I guess even without Marquez leading the way, the support from the spectators will still be spectacular,” he said at the launching of Aeon Credit SIC Racing MSI team on Wednesday. International media confirmed that

Marquez will miss the Australian GP (Oct 17 19) and the Malaysian GP after sustaining a fracture and ligament damage on his right shoulder in an accident at the Indonesia GP on Oct 5. The 32-year-old, who rides for Ducati Lenovo Team, sealed his seventh MotoGP title at the Japanese GP last month, having accumulated 545 points thus far. With four more races to go, his younger brother, BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP ace Alex

Marquez, is in second place with 362 points, with his nearest challengers being third-placed Bagnaia (274 points), who is a two-time world MotoGP champion from the Ducati Lenovo Team, and Aprilia Racing’s Bezzecchi (254 points). Meanwhile, Hakim Danish will compete as a wildcard entrant in the Moto3 race for the Aeon Credit SIC Racing MSI team. Tickets for the 2025 Malaysian GP are still on sale at sepangcircuit.com . – Bernama

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