Rowell: Sunderland star MUST get World Cup call
BENT'S goal record has quite rightly put Sunderland's record signing in the middle of a debate about whether or not he should go to the World Cup this summer.
I think he should go to South Africa.
I think the country is only starting to see his real potential now.
And I think there are three reasons why he has had such an eye-catching season.
The first, is that he is where he wants to be.
He made no secret about the fact he wanted to be a Sunderland player last summer and I loved the fact that there was no middle ground with him.
He wasn't looking to up the ante on other offers or saying one thing and thinking another.
He made his mind up he wanted to be at Sunderland and now that he is here, he is doing what he set out to do in the first place – score goals for a big club that wanted him
The second reason he is doing so well is that he got off to a flying start. He scored within minutes of his debut and the importance of that cannot be over-estimated. He's the club's record signing and the fact he got off the mark instantly removed any pressure that could otherwise have built up.
But the third and most important reason he has done well is that he has played week in, week out.
You can't underplay the importance of that.
At Spurs he was always one of four or five top class strikers and as a result he was always in and out of the side. It is hard for even the best players to settle when they are not played regularly and it couldn't have been easy for him at White Hart Lane, even though he had an excellent goalscoring record.
At Sunderland he has played whenever he is available and I think that long run and that confidence in his abilities, has brought out the best in him.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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