COPENHAGEN, 17 August 2005 — Jermain Defoe gets a rare chance to start an international ahead of Michael Owen when he leads the England attack against Denmark in a friendly today.
Defoe will also play in place of Owen in next month’s World Cup qualifier in Wales, which Real Madrid’s now fifth-choice striker will miss through suspension.
Although Owen remains Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first choice to play just ahead of Wayne Rooney up front, the chance for Defoe to introduce a sense of doubt into the England manager’s mind is too good to miss.
“It’s been at the back of my mind,” said Defoe, who realized his chance back in March, when Owen picked up a yellow card in England’s 2-0 Group Six win over Azerbaijan in Newcastle.
“I just wanted to make sure I had a good pre-season and got off to a good start in the new campaign,” added the Spurs striker, who scored twice against Porto in a 2-0 friendly win on August 6 and once in Spurs’ 2-0 season-opening win at Portsmouth on Saturday.
Defoe, 22, is also desperate to make the World Cup squad if England qualify for the finals as expected after missing out on Euro 2004.
But his chances of deposing Owen permanently as England’s main striker remain slim, especially as Owen is likely to make a rare substitutes’ appearance for his country at the Parken Stadium, with Darren Bent hoping for a debut after his first senior call-up.
The switch will be the only change to Eriksson’s recent starting line-ups.
Captain David Beckham and Joe Cole should operate on the flanks between central midfield pairing Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
Sol Campbell’s latest injury absence after a season of setbacks means John Terry will keep his place in central defense alongside Rio Ferdinand, with the World Cup balance clearly swinging in the Chelsea captain’s favor.
Gary Neville and Ashley Cole will take the wings, with Paul Robinson still keeping out former England keeper David James between the posts.
Injuries have forced Danish coach Morten OIsen into making some changes.
Captain Thomas Helveg, who moved to Borussia Monchengladbach from Norwich this summer, has been replaced by his teammate in the German Bundesliga club Kasper Bogelund.
Everton defender Per Kroldrup and AaB Aalborg’s midfielder have been replaced by West Bromwich’s Thomas Gaardsoe and Werder Bremen’s Daniel Jensen respectively in a side in which most players have either played in England or still do.
Wednesday’s game is a warm-up for two sides who will be in the thick of World Cup qualifiying action next month.
England are two points behind group leaders Poland, who have played a game more, and face a British double header away to the Welsh and Northern Ireland.
The Danes, are worse off in Group Two, which has been all but sewn up by Ukraine on 23 points.
Turkey are second on 16 points, followed by European champions Greece (15) and the Danes (12), who need to make the most of a game in hand on their rivals for a playoff place.
Denmark’s mettle will be tested by their qualifier next month against Turkey in Istanbul, before the easier task of taking three points off Georgia in Copenhagen.
Denmark beat England 3-2 in their last meeting in a freindly at Old Trafford in 2003, but will be aware that they have never beaten England at home in seven meetings dating back to 1948 which have resulted in four wins for England and three draws.
Probable teams: England: Paul Robinson; Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole; David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole; Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe Denmark: Thomas Sorensen, Per Nielsen, Daniel Agger, Brian Priske, Niclas Jensen, Chistian Poulsen, Claus Jensen, Thomas Gravesen, Jesper Gronkjaer, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Martin Jorgensen.
Referee: Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)
