{"id":293714,"date":"2023-10-05T11:24:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T11:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=293714"},"modified":"2023-10-05T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T11:24:28","slug":"defoe-reveals-eriksson-tried-to-bring-him-to-man-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/soccer\/defoe-reveals-eriksson-tried-to-bring-him-to-man-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Defoe reveals Eriksson tried to bring him to Man City"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jermain Defoe has revealed his ‘hurt’ at missing out on the 2006 England World Cup squad to teenager Theo Walcott – and that Sven-Goran Eriksson later tried to tempt him to Manchester City.<\/p>\n
England manager Eriksson caused a sensation when he picked 17-year-old Walcott – who hadn’t even played a first-team match for Arsenal at that point – over Tottenham’s Defoe for the tournament in Germany.<\/p>\n
Defoe, a fairly established England international, was only named on the squad stand-by list and travelled to Germany initially before returning home when Wayne Rooney was passed fit to play following a foot injury.<\/p>\n
Eriksson defended his decision after the tournament by saying: ‘Jermain had a very bad season. I don’t think he deserved to go to the World Cup. Taking Theo was the right decision.’<\/p>\n
That’s despite Walcott not playing a single minute during the tournament as England crashed out on penalties to Portugal at the quarter-final stage.<\/p>\n
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Sven-Goran Eriksson caused a sensation when he selected uncapped 17-year-old Theo Walcott (right) in England’s squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany<\/p>\n
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Children wear England shirts with the names of those in the 2006 squad, including Walcott<\/p>\n
Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n
Chatting with Troy Deeney on the BBC’s Football Firsts podcast, Defoe said: ‘The boys said to me ‘JD, please go and speak to the boss. Tell him you have to go.’<\/p>\n
‘Because Theo hadn’t even played a Premier League game. The only thing that got me through that summer – because that was tough, man, I was hurt – was just seeing England fans [saying] ‘Jermain should have been going.’<\/p>\n
‘It was nice, that was the only thing that got me through it and I actually travelled.<\/p>\n
‘I was on stand-by, but the manager wanted me to travel, to be around the squad.<\/p>\n
‘I remember, it was the sharpest and fittest I felt all season.’<\/p>\n
Defoe, who would finally get to represent England at a World Cup in 2010, also revealed Eriksson tried to sign him when he was Man City boss in 2007-08.<\/p>\n
‘I bumped into him in Manchester, in Wing’s [Chinese restaurant] and he said to me, ‘do you want to come to Man City?’ He said.<\/p>\n
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Defoe (bottom), speaking to Troy Deeney on the BBC’s Football Firsts show, revealed Eriksson tried to sign him when Manchester City manager despite the World Cup squad<\/p>\n
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Eriksson left the England job in 2006 and became Manchester City manager in 2007-08\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Defoe did finally get the chance to play for England at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa<\/p>\n
‘So it’s like, ‘hold on, I’m good enough to play for you now.’<\/p>\n
Defoe played briefly for Portsmouth before returning to Spurs for a second stint and rounded off his career at Sunderland, Bournemouth and Rangers.<\/p>\n
In total, he scored 20 times in 57 appearances for England.<\/p>\n
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n