Gareth: I’d put house onDefoe
GARETH Southgate would have put his house on Jermain Defoe’s goalscoring return, with the veteran’s attitude meaning there is no reason for the England manager to believe next year’s World Cup is beyond him.
The 34-year-old’s performances at Sunderland have belied his advancing years and led to a surprise international return, having won the last of his 55 caps in November 2013.
Thrust in from the start at Wembley yesterday as England looked to prise open the visitors’ welldrilled, packed defence.
The decision paid off as Defoe swept in Raheem Sterling’s cross in the first half to set England on course for a 2-0 win.
“It’s a great moment for Sunderland striker his “best mate”.
Defoe, so devastated to be overlooked for the World Cup in Brazil three years ago, could even head to Russia next summer at the age of 35.
“I think we’ve got to look every time we get together as to who is in form,” Southgate said when asked if the striker was a realistic proposition for the 2018 World Cup.
“I don’t know if we can have a distinct pecking order because players that are playing well deserve the opportunity.
“If we are going to be successful, we have got to have that competition for places.
“The reality is we will always lose players to injury, we’ve never been able to field or pick a full cohort, so it’s really important that we are able to call upon the likes of Jermain and for him to have the impact he had in a game like today.
“But if he is scoring goals i n the Premier League and playing as well as he has this season, then there’s absolutely no reason why he couldn’t.”
Defoe was withdrawn with 30 minutes remaining as England looked to put the game to bed against spirited Lithuania.
His replacement Jamie Vardy did just that six minutes later to keep England in control of Group F.
“I thought it was one of those afternoons where it’s job done,” Southgate said.
“I am not going to eulogise over the performance, but the overall week I think has been really positive in setting the tone of how we want to work.
“The players have got a good feel about them and see the direction we want to head. For sure, we’ll play better than today.”