Peter Crouch declared his intention to be part of Fabio Capello's
starting line-up as England rounded off their World Cup qualifying
campaign with victory over Belarus.
Prior to the start of the finale against Belarus, Capello stated
that just seven of the 23 positions he has to fill ahead of next
summer's World Cup are vacant. It took Crouch less than 200 seconds
to show that he should be there, before adding another 15 minutes
from the end, sandwiching a Shaun Wright-Phillips effort created
by David Beckham.
Once again it highlighted how much more prolific Crouch is than
Emile Heskey. In his three starts under Capello, the Tottenham
has scored four times, more than half of Heskey's entire 57-cap
international career.
Capello is looking for much more than that though and by the
time England next play a competitive match, Crouch will know if
his overall record of 18 goals in 35 games has been enough.
So too will Michael Owen, who remains stuck on 40 for his country,
but whose only involvement was as an invited guest, along with
the likes of Joe Lewis and Jimmy Bullard, who are also among the
55 players called up by Capello in the 20 games since he replaced
Steve McClaren. |
