Posts Tagged ‘Tally’
Zamora for England? Maybe, just maybe!
Just a few short months after he was barracked by his own fans, the chances of Fulham striker Bobby Zamora securing a place in England’s World Cup squad seem to be improving rapidly.
Zamora was seen as a bit of a joke figure at Craven Cottage in the run-up to Christmas, with his boss Roy Hodgson at something of a loss to explain why they would be turning on one of their own players.
But the 29-year-old has proved to be something of a revelation in the three months since that low point, taking his tally to nine goals in his last 15 games when he scored the match-winning free-kick in the 2-1 victory over Birmingham City on Sunday.
Zamora has goals in each of the last four games and suddenly it is not just Hodgson clamouring for him to get a chance in Fabio Capello’s squad – and it is interesting that the Italian was at Craven Cottage to see Sunday’s match with only Zamora and Birmingham keeper Joe Hart as serious possibles for his squad on show.
Sadly for Zamora, Capello had already left his seat by the time Zamora scored, but Hodgson felt his overall performance would have done enough to impress and could be enough to earn him a call-up for the first pre-World Cup friendly against Egypt on March 3.
What of the competition? Well, if we split the striking options up, it seems almost certain that Wayne Rooney (100% certain if fit) and Jermain Defoe will go to South Africa, while Peter Crouch has often been favoured by Capello as the main target man.
Much will, then, depend on the make-up of the squad. If Capello takes only four strikers, as has been mooted, then Zamora will be contending with the likes of Emile Heskey (probably still the favourite), Carlton Cole, Darren Bent (disappointing recently) and Gabriel Agbonlahor for just one spot on the plane.
On this season’s evidence, Zamora and Agbonlahor would be the favourites with World Cup Betting, with Cole unable to find the net regularly or stay fit, Heskey having scored only five times and Bent having hit the wall since a fast start to the campaign.
Far-fetched it might still be, but you certainly can’t fault Zamora for his effort as he tries to score his way into the squad. Something World Cup Picks are far from ruling out.
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