Liverpool star Rio Ngumoha has labelled England captain Harry Kane as an “inspiration” following his Ballon d’Or win.The 18-year-old has sprinted through the ranks at the Reds and is now part of the England squad for their Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.The winger has his eyes set on following in the footsteps of the former Tottenham captain after his historic achievement.He said: “(Kane winning) has helped English football now because everyone’s seen one of us win the Ballon d’Or; it is definitely encouraging many more people to want to be known as the best player in the world.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
“For me, I would like to achieve it and I think I can do it.”I haven’t spoken to him much, really. When I first came, I was a bit shy, so I was keeping myself to myself, but then they got me in the group, and just watching him train, watching all the players train, but especially him, like the finishing drills that you see.”You can see why he won it and why he’s known as the best striker, best player in the world.”Definitely an inspiration to me, but just to every young player and probably every England player as well. He’s a top guy.”LATEST SPORTS NEWSMichael Carrick’s Manchester United fate to be decided in meeting on WednesdayEx-Man Utd defender weighs in on Michael Carrick’s position ahead of expected sackingFormula One pushes ahead for season conclusion in Middle East as Imola stood downNgumoha discussed his journey to playing with the best, reflecting on growing up in a “tough area” of East London.He said: “Growing up in Manor Park, everyone knows it’s a tough area. But to be fair, I think the people around me and all my friends and family made sure I wasn’t a part of anything that was too rough.”And I had football, which is a top, top escape route for things like crime and stuff.”Wanstead Flats. You also have like Mabley Green, Power League, Beckton. All of these places.”So I think I’m just having my brother there, my mum, all my friends supporting me.”They just knew to leave me out of all of that stuff so I could get to the top.”We love football, so we don’t get caught up in any sort of trouble, which is good.”And just having, like I said, having a strong support system around me, just to encourage me to just focus on football and also still be a kid, whether that’s just going out to play football or going out to the movies or something, just little things like that.”Ngumoha will hope for some minutes against Croatia on Thursday and Spain on Sunday.England are virtually guaranteed a top-two finish in their group as they prepare to host Croatia at Wembley.The Three Lions thumped the Eastern European side away from home 7-0 in Rijeka, with Thomas Tuchel’s squad aiming to repeat the hammering tomorrow.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter