Emile Heskey calls time on his England career
Within minutes of Emile Heskey announcing his international retirement this afternoon, there were jokes about him and his career doing the rounds on various social networking websites, emails and texts.
It was a sad inevitability that this would be the case. With just seven goals for England from 62 appearances, Heskey had earned a reputation for being a striker who couldn’t score goals. A non-goalscoring forward, who consistently found a place in England squads since making his debut in 1999 despite his less-than-prolific record for both club and country.
During his 11-year international career, Heskey was the butt of many jokes and the subject of a huge amount of criticism because of his unconvincing record for the Three Lions.
So, it’s no surprise that Heskey has ended his international career today, off the back of another disappointing World Cup campaign in which he failed to score. After all, he might not have featured again anyway under Fabio Capello, and was it really worth putting up with even more stick?
Against the USA, his England career was summed up perfectly in one moment. After being put through on goal, one-on-one with US goalkeeper Tim Howard, Heskey had an ideal chance to give his side the lead. Most international strikers in that position with just the ‘keeper to beat would have been fancied to tuck the ball away. Yet, with Heskey, it was a different story.
And true to form, the Aston Villa forward contrived to find Howard’s legs rather than the back of the net. Few England supporters were surprised, or even angry that he’d missed. It was Heskey after all - spurning chances is what he specialised in.
However, there was a reason why Heskey would find himself in most of the England teams over the past decade. It was the same reason why many of his strike partners, including Wayne Rooney, held the 32-year-old in high regard.
He was a brilliant targetman. This was the primary reason why Gerard Houllier – a man with a shrewd eye for rising talent - brought him to Liverpool for £11million in 2000, and why Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Villa also signed him later on in his career.
The ultimate selfless striker, Heskey could have been described as a creative support forward rather than an out-and-out striker. Always looking to provide the flick-ons or the knock-downs for his teammates, the 6ft 2in powerhouse was a menace to contain for opposing defences.
Despite being largely useless in front of goal, inside the penalty area he was dangerous for other reasons. Few defenders could out-jump him, and even fewer could outmuscle him.
Because of his physical prowess, there will always be the “what if?” question looming over Heskey’s career when he hangs up his boots for good. He might have looked ferocious on the surface, but underneath he was a gentle giant, who seemed to lack that aggression and self-confidence to turn him into the revered striker he could have been.
He rarely looked confident in an England shirt, always wearing a despondent expression, and was certainly never one to shout about how good he was or what he brought to the table as a striker.
The fact is that strikers are, and always will be, judged on the number of goals they score. None are ever remembered for the number of chances they created. And when there are international goalkeepers in world football who have a better goals-to-games ratio than you, it’s a good sign that you’re not going to be held in his esteem by the hard-to-please England faithful.
But this won’t bother Heskey too much. He knows why he was called up to play for England on 62 occasions and what he provided, even if others failed to appreciate the job he was assigned to do.
Heskey might not be fondly missed by too many England supporters, but he’ll almost certainly be missed by his England teammates.
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