'Messi and Ronaldo are two of the best ever, I'm proud of beating them'

2017 saw Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both fail to top the goalscoring charts in Europe, with Tottenham ace Harry Kane netting a remarkable 56 times for club and country to end the year two goals ahead of Messi.

The Spurs striker admitted how much he has sacrificed to be where he is now: "They've been such good players over the last ten years or so, and dominated football and rightly so," Kane told 'ESPN' of Messi and Ronaldo. "They'll go down as two of the best ever players."

"To even be up there and beat them is something I'm proud of. For me, it's about doing it every year. Not just beating them but winning as many trophies as they've won," he added. "I've sacrificed most of my time, especially with the schedule of games. You come in, you train, you play, you recover, you rest. That's a footballer's life. I don't complain. It's something I love doing."

"But you lose maybe the social part of your life. It's a matter of opinion. Not every player does what I do. Some players may go out, go for meals – that kind of thing. From my point of view, to get the best out of myself, it's about going home, resting, recovering, spending time with my family and do everything I can in that short period of time to achieve what I can," Kane concluded.