Fringe Players Make Their Mark

Joe Cole, Bobby Zamora, Darren Bent, and Peter Crouch made have all given Fabio Capello even more of a headache after the last course of matches.

Joe Cole scored an incredibly cheeky cruyff through the legs of a Man Utd defender in helping Chelsea to gain a vital 3 points at Old Trafford. He has only played 90 minutes twice this season but he got a rare opportunity to start the top of the table clash on Saturday. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands not only by scoring the skillful goal but his all round game was impressive. He worked hard, won the ball back, kept the ball and looked to make things happen. If he can get a few more starts before the end of the season and help Chelsea to win the title then he could make a late run to make the England squad.

Bobby Zamora continued his impressive season by bagging another goal against Wolfsburg in the Europa League. He is a handful for defenders as he is big, strong, quick and can score all different types of goals. With Capello liking to have a big man partnering Rooney up front Zamora is doing he all can to be that man. Heskey has been the preferred choice for Capello but he still doesn't score enough goals. Zamora is a very similar player to Heskey but is more of a threat.

Darren Bent and Peter Crouch faced off in the same game with Bent grabbing the headlines. Bent scored twice as his Sunderland beat Crouch's Tottenham 3-1. Bent though had a glorious opportunity to score hat-trick but missed 2 penalties with Gomes saving both of them. This was after Bent had already scored 1 penalty. He has now scored 23 times this season in what can be described as an average Sunderland team. Crouch on the other hand came on with 20 minutes to go and scored with his first touch. His size is something that defenders especially foreign defenders still have so much trouble coping with. He also has a goal ratio of 1 every 2 games for England. He is certainly going to the World Cup but could very well be starting with Rooney when England play their first game against USA on June 12th.

With teams having just 5 or 6 games left till the end of the season, players chances to impress are becoming less and less. Every game must be treated like the last game of the season and every mistake counts. Capello will know most of his squad by now and probably most of the starting 11 making every game crucial.

Here's some of Joe Cole's finest moments including the stunning volley against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup and embarrassing the Man Utd defense.