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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 79 - Friday March 24, 2006 |
Jermain Defoe Hopes to Make it to the World Cup
 Thomson Fontaine
Sports loving Dominicans will be glued to their television sets when the 26 member English team for the 2006 World Cup is named in May.
The reason is simple. We will all be hoping that Jermain Defoe is selected for the English squad. The live wire striker whose pace and agility are a constant threat to his opponents plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the English premier football league.
Defoe came to prominence as a young West Ham United forward who was controversially signed from Charlton Athletic in July 1999 after he had been brought through the youth system at The Valley.
 The striker made his West Ham debut as a 17-year-old from the bench in a 1-0 win at Walsall in the Worthington Cup in September 2000 - and it was he who scored the winning goal. A perfect start!
A year later, he scored on his debut for the England Under-21 side after three seconds when coming on as a substitute against Holland. And he soon became an important player in the 2001/02 campaign on his return to the club, netting an impressive 14 goals in his debut Premiership season.
In an astonishing streak, he scored in his debut match for Tottenham Spurs against Portsmouth in just the 13th minute. Incredibly, almost exactly four years after his West Ham debut, on September 8, 2004, he had another cinderalla start when he scored the winning goal against Poland, playing his first game in world cup qualifying for England.
Despite his top draw performances for West Ham, he was often under used, finding himself on the bench, but proved his worth with a run of six goals in seven games during the 2002.04 season. His efforts could not save United from the drop, scoring 11 goals in all competitions, and his team was relegated to the first division. Only one day after West Ham were relegated he put in a transfer request, which was rejected, consigning the player to Nationwide League football for the 2003/04 season.
He proved to be too good for First Division football, scoring four goals in his first six games, but his season was dogged by disciplinary problems, including two red cards picked up in three games.
He would not stay long at the First Division since in January 2004 he was signed for 7 million pounds by Tottenham Hotspur. By the time of the signing, he had already bagged 15 goals, making it 41 in 105 games for West Ham, three of those from the bench. In his first three games for the Spurs, he notched up four goals.
However, before leaving West Ham for Tottenham, Defoe had a loan spell with second division club Bournemouth where he scored in a record 10 consecutive games; a record that still stands in English professional football.
In the 2004-05 season, he scored 13 goals in 28 matches in the Premiership and 9 goals in 7 matches in domestic cup competitions (FA Cup and League Cup). So far in the 2005-06 season, he has scored 8 goals from the 19 matches in which he has played, helping his Club to the number four position in arguably the best football league in the world, after Chelsea, Man. United and Liverpool.
These impressive statistics only confirm that Jermain is recognized as one of most deadly finishers of his age group in Europe. Meanwhile there are persistent rumors that the forward may be headed for Liverpool come next season. He has however denied these reports telling Sky Sports earlier this week that: “I think we can achieve something special so I can't see why I would think about going somewhere else.”
Now why are Dominicans rooting for Jermain? Because we feel he is part of us, a part of this great Dominican Diaspora that has produced scientists, politicians, top class boxers and cricketers, lawyers, cabinet member of British parliament, and a veritable list of world class contributors to this planet.
Jermain Colin Defoe was born on October 7, 1982 in Beckton, London to a St. Lucian mother and Dominican father. So far, Jermain has played 10 games for England and, this writer will certainly be looking to see him alongside Owen in 2006 World Cup action.
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