Muamba's dream of World Cup call
9:10am Monday 16th November 2009 in Sport By Marc Iles
FABRICE Muamba insists he has not given up hope of gatecrashing England’s senior squad for next summer’s World Cup.
The Wanderers star was in action for Stuart Pearce’s Under-21s in their 1-0 victory over Portugal at Wembley on Saturday.
And having seen team-mates James Milner, Tom Huddlestone and Gabby Agbonglahor win call-ups from Fabio Capello in recent months, the no-nonsense midfielder is hoping he can follow suit after making a decent start to the season at the Reebok.
“I never get jealous of the boys who have stepped up to the full set-up,” Muamba said over the weekend. “They have done extremely well to get up there.
“It just goes to show that if you are playing well, Mr Capello is willing to give everybody a chance and it’s great they’ve done that.
“We all see how well the likes of Milner, Agbonlahor, Joe Hart and Tom Huddlestone have done and it shows we’ve all got a chance.”
Gary Megson has also been impressed by the young midfielder’s start to the campaign, having seen him struggle for form in the first 12 months since his £5million move from Birmingham City.
Muamba has been one of the more consistent figures in the squad since August, and Megson believes fans are now starting to understand why he invested so heavily in the former Arsenal man last summer.
“People are finally starting to realise what he actually does,” he said. “If you want someone to sit in front of your back four, you are not going to get much better.
“If you want somebody threading the ball through for penetrating runs, then there are other people who can do that.
“Fab was brought in for the qualities he is showing, and always shown.
“It’s like with Kevin Davies - people are finally starting to applaud him for the way that he plays, not the tackles that he makes or the way he competes. People are looking at what is happening to him, because he doesn’t half get some stick.”
click2find
