Harry Kane features in a star-studded new advert set in London, the city where he grew up and has become one of the world’s leading footballers with Tottenham Hotspur.
Nike have launched their ‘Nothing beats a Londoner’ campaign, about the huge range of sports played in the capital, and the trials and challenges those who take part have to overcome.
It features more Londoner sports stars than it is possible to name – including Mo Farah, Eden Hazard, Steph Houghton, Adebayo Akinfenwa, Alex Iwobi, Nathanial Chalobah, Gareth Southgate, Dina Asher-Smith and of course Kane.
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Harry Kane and Eden Hazard feature in a star-studded new Nike advert set in London
Plenty of Londoner sport stars appear, including legendary Olympian Sir Mo Farah
England star Steph Houghton also features, filming a young hopeful scoring a wonder goal
Ahead of its launch on Friday, Kane exclusively spoke about his memories of growing up in Chingford, in the north-east of the city, and beginning his journey to the Premier League.
He said: ‘The area was great for kids growing up, I lived just behind the local park and 5 minutes from my school so me and my friends were all very close to each other, we’d play football in the park for hours every evening. It was a very close neighbourhood.
‘I remember so clearly playing for my first youth team Ridgeway Rovers, it was typical Sunday league pitches. Peter May Sports Ground was our home pitch. I remember scoring loads of goals in that team and it was where the scouts first noticed me.
The ad also stars musicians, and a memorable cameo by Big Shaq with Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi
Skepta is the first star seen on the advert, with Giggs, J Hus, AJ Tracey and Dave all involved
‘Football was everything when we were growing up. We were either playing it or arguing about it. There were big rivalries between the clubs we supported.’
Kane grew up in a family of Spurs fans, and although he was briefly on the books of rivals Arsenal, it was at White Hart Lane where he became England’s great hope for the future.
Kane says he is ‘proud’ to play for Spurs, and equally proud of the city he comes from describing it as ‘the best city in the world’.
He said: ‘The people, Londoners, that’s what makes London special. It’s such a diverse and multicultural city. Music, fashion, food, sport, it all comes together.
‘London is competitive, its busy, its hard to make your mark sometimes. So I think young Londoners have this natural in-built self-belief. They know that to make it in London is going to take hard work and dedication.’
Watford midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah gets a haircut in Nike’s ‘Nothing beats a Londoner’ ad
The three minute long advert sees Londoners compare the challenges they face in sport
Kane’s cameo in the ad sees him – and Chelsea forward Hazard – reacting to a wonder goal scored by a young female footballer.
As well as sportspeople, London’s grime and rap scene is thoughtfully well represented, with artists including Skepta, Giggs, J Hus, AJ Tracey and Dave all involved.
Michael Dapaah, the comedian made famous with his character Big Shaq, also features rapping and saying he’s friends with Iwobi – which the Arsenal midfielder denies with a skeptical look – in one of the ad’s most memorable moments.
It isn’t often powerful striker Adebayo Akinfenwa (left) finds himself outmuscled
Dapaah then wakes up from what turns out to be a nightmare, to find Mo Farah standing in his bedroom, in another unusual twist.
A massive range of sports feature, from football and rugby to rowing and ice hockey, while each sportsperson has a notable cameo, from Akinfenwa being bullied off gym equipment, to Southgate taking on a God-like persona, giving a young hopeful an England call-up via lightning from his finger.
The film is another from Nike’s famous advertising stable, and looks set to become their latest classic.
England manager Gareth Southgate gets elevated to God-like status in the new advert
Southgate, through the power of lightning from his finger, gives a young hopeful his dream