In an interesting look at some of the runners and riders for a late England call-up this summer, the Telegraph notes that Fabio Capello is preparing to take another look at Bobby Zamora.
The paper reveals that the England manager will make enquiries about the likelihood of Zamora lining up at Anfield with Fulham tomorrow before deciding whether to send his right-hand man Franco Baldini to Anfield. The tone of the Telegraph piece suggests Zamora’s chances have been boosted by his excellent display in Wolfsburg on Thursday night – as they should have done.
Jason Burt reckons that the quality of Zamora’s displays for Fulham this season has edged him ahead of one of his major rivals for a World Cup spot: Darren Bent. This is some achievement considering that Capello has included the Sunderland striker in his squads before, something which he hasn’t done with Bobby. Spots as the fourth (and maybe even fifth) striker in the squad appear to be up for grabs as Capello appears to have decided to take Rooney, Defoe and Crouch to South Africa.
The Italian is open to giving a few newcomers a chance to shine in May’s Wembley friendly against Mexico if only to keep some of those who expect to be on the plane ‘on their toes’ as Burt puts it. Perhaps Bobby will have to cancel that summer sojourn to Las Vegas after all.
There’s an interesting snippet on how Zamora feels about facing Hamburg – and s0meone he says he ‘looks up to’ in Ruud van Nistelrooy:
His game is all about what I’ve tried to do this year. Stay up there, in and around the box. Hold things up, set people up and just get shots off. He is pretty much the master of that sort of football in and around the box.
