Jol talks up Zamora chances

Jol talks up Zamora chances

Published Nov. 17, 2011 1:17 p.m. ET

Zamora missed two good chances to mark his full international debut with a goal in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Sweden and afterwards branded his own performance as "not the greatest". But with Wayne Rooney suspended for the group stages of the tournament, there is a place in attack up for grabs and Jol says Zamora can feel the breach. "He was very quick to call himself, but players know when they haven't played well," said Jol. "When a striker scores, he has done well. "It's about performances so if he gets another chance or a couple of chances, he will take it because he is different. "They are all different. Darren Bent is different, Jermain Defoe is different, Wayne Rooney certainly is different. And I don't feel they have a lot of players who are a real number nine who can hold up the ball. "It's up to the manager - if he wants to play with a goalscorer, then Bent is probably the best goalscorer in England, he's certainly different to Bobby. "But if you play Bobby with offensive midfield players he can be very useful. If you play him on his own with a flat midfield, you are better playing Darren Bent. "They give all the options so I think Capello will think about taking him because he is a different sort of number nine. "Capello will know he is a number nine who will hold the ball up all the time. His first touch is very good, he's good in the box, he's a link-up number nine. "Peter Crouch is probably similar. He's better than people give him credit for at holding the ball. But Bobby is probably the most gifted. "He's not only a link-up player, not an immobile number nine, he's an intelligent number nine. He's very versatile." Zamora will be back in action when Fulham head to Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday. And Jol is hoping to reap the benefits of having a player desperate to prove himself over the rest of the season. "Even if you are not involved in the national team you should be motivated and I think he is," added the Dutchman. "It certainly gives you an extra dimension playing for the national team and hopefully he'll be involved. I think it can certainly help." Jol will be without Stephen Kelly at the Stadium of Light after the defender suffered a groin injury on Republic of Ireland duty last week.

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