Source: Telegraph
World Cup 2010: Bobby Zamora has potential nine-match audition to make Enlgand squad
It means Zamora has potentially a nine-match audition to get to South Africa. [LNB]Whether he plays in all of Fulham's games is a moot point. Given the soreness of his Achilles, Zamora is likely to be nursed sparingly through the club's final six league fixtures so that he is ready for the finale of a Europa League campaign that is now so close to ending with an improbable final. [LNB] Related ArticlesLiverpool v Fulham: match previewHodgson: Zamora worthy of England call upBen?z demands five winsWolfsburg 0 Fulham 1; agg 1-3Duff has chance to heal woundsSport on televisionIt is some turnaround for Zamora, who admitted only last month that he had effectively given up hope of receiving an international call-up and had even booked his holiday to Las Vegas this summer. [LNB]If he continues in his current form, which has propelled Fulham past the holders Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus and, now Wolfsburg, and into a semi-final against Hamburg, then he may have to change his plans. [LNB]Capello will check the likelihood of Zamora playing against Liverpool on Sunday and may dispatch England general manager Franco Baldini to Anfield. After that Fulham face Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Arsenal and Stoke, plus Hamburg twice, and maybe even Liverpool again if both clubs make it through to the Europa League final. [LNB]The fact that Zamora is even being considered represents a remarkable change of fortune for a 29 year-old who has never before even been close to playing for his country despite earning six under-21 caps, without scoring. [LNB]His claim now is regarded as genuinely strong even though he has not even been put on standby by Capello in the past. [LNB]But the pragmatic England manager has now taken the attitude that Zamora has at least earned the chance to be considered and he is now regarded as a more likely candidate to be selected than Sunderland's Darren Bent, who has been chosen in the past. [LNB]With Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe and — it appears — Peter Crouch to be selected if fit, then Zamora's emergence presents a threat to Carlton Cole and even Emile Heskey's hopes of being included. [LNB]Cole's form has dipped dramatically at West Ham and although he is admired by Capello his continuing knee problems are also a concern while Heskey, despite playing a pivotal role in England's qualification for the tournament, is also struggling. [LNB]Although the England camp have maintained that there is little chance of a shock inclusion by Capello, and that all the likely candidates are well known, if he were to select Zamora it would be a gamble. [LNB]However the Italian has always had in mind the idea of giving one or two players a chance in the friendly against Mexico at Wembley on May 24 to keep the rest of the squad on their toes. [LNB]Another player under discussion is Adam Johnson, though it may be too early for him, while Joe Cole's re-emergence and Aaron Lennon's impending return to fitness may also count against the Manchester City winger. [LNB]With Zamora scoring 19 goals this season — more than the previous three campaigns combined — he has added a goal threat to his impressive link-up play and ability to hold up the ball. [LNB]Even after the victory over Wolfsburg Zamora talked about an England call-up being a 'world away' but that is no longer the case. [LNB]Given he was regarded as surplus to requirements at Craven Cottage last summer — he was given permission to speak to Hull City, which he declined, and was also barracked by the Fulham supporters not so long ago — then Zamora's emergence is even more noteworthy. [LNB]He paid tribute to the role that manager Roy Hodgson has played in his — and Fulham's — development. 'He's a great, leader everyone has seen it,' Zamora said.[LNB] 'He has done a great job. He has made us far more organised, everybody knows their jobs and we are so well drilled. Sometimes we are sick of it in training but he leaves us in no doubt about what he wants and he gets results. He's an excellent manager.'[LNB]Zamora will now face Hamburg's Ruud Van Nistelrooy, a striker he said was 'the one I look up to'. [LNB]He added: 'His game is all about what I've tried to do this year. Stay up there, in and around the box. Hold things up, set people up and just get shots off. He is pretty much the master of that sort of football in and around the box.' [LNB]
