Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup 4th round replay on Wednesday, and served Fabio Capello a timely reminder of his abilities ahead of England’s friendly match with African Cup of Nations champions Egypt in four weeks time. Capello landed in London yesterday to a sea of media awaiting his decision regarding the England captaincy. However, should the Italian escape the shackles of the English media, he might want to take a wee peek at the highlights from Elland Road. Defoe’s performance characterized the strengths, and weaknesses of Defoe’s overall game in the goals he scored, but also the chances he missed. Defoe told the London Evening Standard that he hopes to be tagged as one of the world’s best players.

“To get that sort of accolade, you have to prove yourself in a massive tournament like the World Cup".

In the interview Defoe bemoaned the prejudice shown against small players in English football. Defoe named former World Cup winners Romario and Bebeto as examples of small players like himself (Defoe is 5 ft 6.5 inches tall) dominating a World Cup tournament. However, whilst Defoe does give away a few inches in height, it is not Defoe’s stature that will concern Capello when pondering Defoe’s role in this coming World Cup.

Defoe has scored 20 goals this season, 15 of them coming in the Premier League. This marks him out as the 2nd highest English scorer in the Premier League behind Wayne Rooney (20). This season should see Defoe break his previous record of 22 goals in all competitions which he achieved in the 2004/05 season, and so for England and Capello, Defoe appears to be hitting form at just the right time. However, what might worry the Italian is, not Defoe’s overall quantity of goals, but who these goals have come against. Over half of Defoe’s league goals this season have come against just two teams, 5 against Wigan in November, and 3 against Hull in August. Both these teams find themselves in the bottom half of the table. Defoe has managed to score just 3 of his 15 league goals against opposition in the top half of the Premier League (Manchester United, Everton, and Manchester City). Defoe’s inability to score against the Premier League’s better defences will almost certainly be of concern to Capello’s when he selects his squad for the World Cup.

Defoe's England record reads 11 goals from 38 caps, which is not a bad statistic when you consider that for many of those caps Defoe started on the bench, coming on as a substitute late on. However, of these 11 goals, only 6 came in competitive matches, with Defoe scoring 4 against Andorra, 1 against Kazakhstan and 1 against Poland. None of these teams will be in South Africa come June, and this record is arguably not good enough for a player that wants to become one of the world’s best.

The match at Elland Road showed the best and the worst of Jermain Defoe. He missed a hatful of chances (in the first half especially) only to come away from the game with a hat-trick. While you have to be there to miss them, against the world’s best defenders, Defoe might only get one chance. The question is, would he take that chance? Defoe has missed four penalties in a row for Tottenham this season, including one in the last minute of a match at Goodison Park. Can Defoe be counted upon to handle such pressure in South Africa? The question is Capello’s to ponder. All Defoe can do is carry on scoring goals, and hope that, come May, it will be enough for Capello.