Harry Kane or Adriano
Last week, Brazil’s Twittersphere was split on the question of who was the better player between Adriano and Harry Kane. The debate which started on social media soon became the subject of soccer TV shows with soccer fans from around the globe weighing in on the matter.
Harry Kane versus Adriano is an interesting subject of discussion with good arguments to be used for both players. The English and the Brazilian are two of the best strikers in this century and both have contributed in their own ways to take the beautiful game to another level.
Adriano began his career in Europe at an early age, and it didn’t take long until he captured the world’s attention owing to his impressive athleticism and ability with the soccer ball at his feet. “The Imperator”, Adriano’s nickname given by Inter Milan’s fans, was the main player for the Italian team during their successful run in the early 2000s and also played a key role for the outstanding Brazilian national squad between 2003 and 2006.
Adriano’s impressive stats and performances gave them the opportunity to add multiple prestigious trophies to his resume such as four Serie A titles, one Brazilian Championship and the 2005 Confederations Cup. The Brazilian striker was also considered one of the top-six footballers in the world during the Ballon D’or ceremony in 2004 and won the FIFA Golden Shoe in 2005. Undeniably, Adriano’s career ended sooner than anybody could have predicted, but his legacy will never be erased from the history books.
On the other side of the debate, Harry Kane has proven he has what it takes to be considered one of the best strikers in the world and will definitely be remembered as one of the best strikers of his generation when he hangs up his boots.
The striker has taken the English side Tottenham to a whole new level in European soccer leading the team throughout their brilliant 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League campaign. The Spurs’ legend has an incredible 241 goals and 54 assists in 374 games wearing Tottenham’s jersey. Playing for England’s national team, the captain of the Lions has had numerous excellent performances on the international stage and was one of the key contributors taking England to its first World Cup semifinals after 52 years and to the Euro 2020 final.
But here is the question, if you have your team and you need to sign a striker to be the top goal scorer of your club and lead the squad to championships, who would you choose?
It’s a tough one, but here’s the case to be made for Adriano:
In my opinion, Harry Kane is a better soccer player than Adriano. Kane has the better technique, he has the ability to provide assists to his teammates and he is more dangerous with his weak foot than Adriano was.
However, the fact remains Kane has never led his team to a championship, which weighs heavily against the 28 year old.
So far in his career, the English striker has played four finals and he has never scored a single goal, while Adriano scored three goals in three different finals.
In the two biggest matches of his career, Kane had poor performances. In the UEFA Champions League final in 2019, and again failing to lead England to its first title since the 1966 FIFA World Cup in the Euro 2020.
Meanwhile Adriano has always stepped up when the lights shone brightest in almost every club he has played for and was one of the key elements in his club’s titles. The ace scored one of the most memorable goals in the history of the Brazilian national team during the 2004 Copa America final and led his country to a huge comeback win against its biggest rival, Argentina. Adriano also scored in the 2005 Confederations Cup final, in the 2005 Copa Italia final and he was the key to Flamengo’s 2009 Brazilian championship title.
Strikers must be lethal in big games and they need to drive their team’s offense when they need them the most. On at least four occasions, this was the case for Adriano, but this has never been the case for Harry Kane.
Obviously, the English striker is still young and has a lot of soccer still to play in his career, but if we’re picking a player for your team today, it’s hard to argue against the Brazilian bringing more titles to his club than Kane.
-Matheus Teles