Jermain Defoe - International Career

International Career

Defoe was capped by England at two youth levels, earning eight caps for the under-16s and seven caps for the under-18s. Defoe's form for Bournemouth in the 2000–01 season saw him selected for the England under-21 team to play Mexico in May 2001, and he marked his debut with the second goal as England U21s won 3–0. He went on to gain 23 caps for England at under-21 level, scoring seven goals. Defoe made his debut for the senior England team in a 1–0 defeat to Sweden in March 2004, coming on as an early substitute for the injured Darius Vassell. England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson singled out Defoe's display for praise in an otherwise poor performance by England, saying, "Jermain Defoe did very well – I liked what I saw. He showed that he can do very well even in international football and that he is technically very good. Jermain is quick and he knows where the goal is, so I liked him very much." He was not however selected for the England squad to take part in Euro 2004. He made his first start for England in a World Cup qualifying match against Poland in September 2004, scoring in a 2–1 win. As he did six months earlier, Eriksson paid tribute to Defoe, saying, ""Jermain is a great talent. It couldn't have been much better for him. He did very well. He scored one goal and created other chances as well. He is a great player who will always score goals."

Despite appearing regularly for England in World Cup qualifying games and friendly matches, Defoe was not named in the provisional England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and named only on a five-man standby list. He joined the squad for training in Germany but returned to England when Wayne Rooney was cleared to play after having suffered a foot injury in April. He confessed that he was baffled by his omission, saying, "I don't know why I'm not out there. I've been involved in every squad for the last two years and feel I've played a part in helping us to qualify. I have never felt fitter and sharper than I was in training and believe I could have scored goals in the tournament. It's a strange decision and everybody I speak to thinks so as well." Eriksson said after the tournament that he did not think that Defoe would have been a better option than 17 year old Theo Walcott, who had been selected for the England squad, adding, "If I had thought so I would have picked him. I've seen him 15 or 20 times this season and I have to take the best players who I think will be good for us in the future." He made a further explanation a few months later, saying, "Jermain had a very bad season. I don't think he deserved to go to the World Cup. Taking Theo was the right decision."

Steve McClaren, who took over as England manager after the World Cup, selected Defoe for England in his first match, a friendly against Greece in August 2006. Defoe continued to be selected and to appear for England in Euro 2008 qualifying games and friendly matches.

Defoe was initially omitted from Fabio Capello's first squad with the new manager insisting he would only select players who were playing regular club football. One day after scoring on his Portsmouth debut Defoe was recalled to the England squad to replace the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor. Defoe took his international goals tally up to five in the Caribbean on 1 June 2008 when he scored twice against Trinidad and Tobago and in the process staking a claim for a more regular place in the international team.

Defoe scored his first competitive international goal of 2008 with the final goal in England's 5–1 win over Kazakhstan on 11 October 2008 after coming on as a late sub for Wayne Rooney. He also scored two goals in three minutes against Andorra in a 2009 World Cup qualifier.

His 2009–10 season got off to the perfect start as he came from the bench to score both goals in the 2–2 draw against the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena on 12 August 2009 and was announced as man of the match.

On 23 June 2010, he scored the only goal in England's third group stage match against Slovenia in the World Cup. This goal gave England the win they needed to progress into the Round of 16.

He then opened up the scoring for England's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Bulgaria, volleying home from the 6 yard box after a cross from Ashley Cole, whose initial effort was saved by the Bulgarian goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov. Defoe went on to score his first international hat-trick which was the first hat-trick at the new Wembley. Defoe was called up to the England Squad to face Wales on 26 March 2011. He was an unused substitute. Defoe was named as a member of the England squad for Euro 2012.

Remarkably, Defoe did not play for the full 90 minutes in any of his first 50 international appearances. He has 32 appearances as a substitute, which is a record number for an England player, and got his first full 90 minutes against Ukraine on September 11th 2012 in his 51st cap. Defoe started England's first 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Moldova and scored his 17th goal for England tying him with David Beckham