Without quite bursting into song in the manner of Martine McCutcheon, his fellow Eastender, Jermain Defoe is keen to emphasise that this is his moment. After three successive starts in friendly internationals under Fabio Capello, the Portsmouth striker is preparing to line up for his first competitive match for England in exactly two years, against Andorra on Saturday, and is determined to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity.
For all his brash confidence, buoyed by two goals in Portsmouth’s 3-0 win over Everton last weekend, Defoe, 25, knows that he may not get another chance to establish himself at international level. Capello’s reservations about Michael Owen go beyond his lack of match fitness, but the England manager is not ready to end Owen’s international career and the Newcastle United striker is expected to return to the squad for next month’s World Cup qualifying matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus.
In what capacity may be largely down to Defoe, who has the chance to thrust England’s fourth-highest goalscorer firmly down the pecking order. He is fortunate to be facing Andorra, against whom he scored twice in a European Championship qualifier at Old Trafford two years ago, but the real test will come against Croatia in Zagreb on Wednesday.
With only one of his five international goals coming in a competitive match, Defoe’s challenge is to prove that he is more than a flat-track bully.
“I feel ready, that this is my time,” he said yesterday. “It’s great when you get an opportunity. Everyone wants to play. It doesn’t matter what position you’re in. If a forward comes in and performs, why should I feel that I should have played? If someone has come in and scored and done well for the team and the team has got a result, then they deserve to play. Playing for your country is based on merit. If you play well, you deserve to play.”
Defoe puts his renaissance down to his decision to join Portsmouth in January, a move that has enabled him to play regularly after being reduced to the role of bit-part player by Martin Jol and Juande Ramos at Tottenham Hotspur.
“I do feel a lot sharper,” he said. “When I signed for Portsmouth, after a few games it was great. If you feel sharp, it’s normal to believe that if you get a chance you will take it. Confidence is a massive thing in football. You go into games and believe you are going to do well.”
Defoe admitted that his team-mates are already focusing on Croatia, who eliminated England in qualifying for this summer’s European Championship. “I suppose we owe Croatia one,” he said. “After that game at Wembley, you’re sitting in the dressing-room and it’s like a surreal moment. You can imagine what it was like, being on holiday in the summer and watching some of the games. Obviously you don’t want to get that feeling again.”
Rio Ferdinand missed training yesterday because of a sore back, but John Terry returned from a virus while Frank Lampard, Wes Brown and Ashley Cole completed sessions with Massimo Neri, the fitness coach, and are expected to return to full training today.
Highlights of England's crucial World Cup qualifying match against Croatia on September 10 will not be shown on free-to-air television after ITV and the BBC failed to reach agreement with Setanta Sports, which is transmitting the match live (Dan Sabbagh writes).
The dispute also applies to England's match away to Andorra on Saturday and it will be the first time that is has not been possible to watch a competitive England match either live, or in highlights form, without paying.
Setanta reiterated yesterday that it had not received an offer for the highlights rights that made commercial sense, although the BBC and ITV believe that Setanta is not negotiating seriously.
FROM: TIMESONLINE
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