Source: Daily_Mail
England winger Aaron Lennon can speed up his claim for World Cup call
At least one person inside Wembley Stadium can beat Aaron Lennon in a sprint, but even Usain Bolt would think twice about volunteering to mark the England winger.
Like Bolt, Lennon is on top of his game. He lacks the towering frame of the world's fastest man but he swaggers down the same fine line which divides confidence and arrogance.
Lennon has teased us like this before. Positives were thin on the ground in Gelsenkirchen when England's last bid for World Cup glory disintegrated but he was one of them, offering a glimpse of life after David Beckham.
The problem is, three years on, the England manager is still weighing up the respective strengths of the two players. Reliability and experience versus exhilarating pace and unpredictability.
Beckham's enduring career has much to do with the failure of several young dashers to make the position their own on the right side of Fabio Capello's team.
Theo Walcott seemed to have done just that with a hat-trick in Zagreb a year ago, but his series of injuries have forced Capello to confront alternatives.
Beckham showed the coach little he did not already know in the recent friendly in Holland. Shaun Wright-Phillips did well enough as a substitute in Amsterdam to start against Slovenia on Saturday but then left Capello wondering whether he had the mental strength to deliver in front of Wembley's expectant audience.
Lennon, 22, has no problems with the big stage. He was an uncapped teenager when Sven Goran Eriksson, to be found gracing Wembley's posh seats tonight along with Bolt, picked him in the last World Cup squad and was nerveless whenever he appeared in Germany.
His most memorable performance of last season came in the Carling Cup final when he terrorised Manchester United's Patrice Evra, the self-professed best left back in the world.
When Lennon replaced Wright- Phillips at half-time on Saturday, he lit up England and gave them an electricity they had lacked.
The stakes are higher against Croatia but the Spurs winger will not have a better chance to ink his name into the squad for South Africa. Tomorrow morning, Capello hopes to consider his 23-man World Cup party as a manager who has qualified for South Africa.
He cannot afford to take all of Beckham, Wright-Phillips, Walcott, Lennon and James Milner, who has also impressed the England boss. Then there is Joe Cole. Capello met the injured Chelsea midfielder two weeks ago and was told he should be back in action by the end of September. The Italian promised Cole he is still in his thoughts.
The season may be young but Lennon may not get a better chance to shine.
