Unlucky Zamora has a point to prove

Bobby Zamora can consider himself extremely unlucky after being snubbed by England coach Fabio Capello.

Capello named his provisional 30-man squad on Tuesday and Zamora’s name was missing, with Darren Bent getting the nod alongside Capello’s preferred frontmen Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey and Jermain Defoe.

Fulham striker Zamora had been touted as a potential member of the final 23-man party, but it appears the 29-year-old will not make the cut despite his best ever season.

The former West Ham man has scored 17 times this term and in Fulham’s run to the Europa League final he has shown he can cut the mustard against some of Europe’s big guns.

Wolfsburg, Juventus, Hamburg, Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk have all been rolled over by the Cottagers this season and they will now face Atletico Madrid in the final on Wednesday.

Roy Hodgson has done a remarkable job in getting his side this far, and he will be hoping talisman Zamora can shake off an Achilles injury to feature against the Spanish giants. Zamora will be desperate to play and get the chance to fire the Cottagers to victory as well as proving a point to Capello.

Zamora could still squeeze into Capello’s plans if injury strikes one of his forwards. The Italian has to whittle down his 30-man squad to the 23 who will travel to South Africa by June 1st, and a good showing from Zamora in Hamburg could put him in the thoughts of Capello and top of the standby list.