World Cup qual - Heskey jaded after Kazakh trip

Eurosport - Mon, 08 Jun 17:40:00 2009

England striker Emile Heskey has admitted he is tired and suffering from jet lag after returning from a World Cup qualifiier in Kazakhstan.

2009 England Emile Heskey - 0

The Aston Villa man scored in the 4-0 win in Almaty, but said he is jaded after a 7,000-mile round trip which saw England travel across 10 time zones.

Fabio Capello's men face Group 6 whipping boys Andorra at Wembley on Wednesday, but the 31-year-old Heskey expects a tough game.

"It's going to be a difficult game after coming back from Kazakhstan, we're very focused and hopefully we'll get the result," he added.

"It's difficult with the time difference, I've felt tired all the time, but hopefully it'll be okay."

England have won all six of their qualifiers to date and another three points will see them move to the brink of qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Heskey paid tribute to strike partner Wayne Rooney after both were on target on Saturday, which for Heskey meant a first competitive international goal for seven years.

Rooney and Heskey have established themselves as the first-choice partnership under coach Fabio Capello, and the target man man is delighted with how things are going.

"Wayne Rooney's a great player, he's shown it for his club on many occasions and for England so it's working well," he said. "It's nice to get on the scoresheet but I'll keep plugging away and hopefully get some more."

While Heskey has re-established himself in the squad, there is still no place for fellow striker Michael Owen.

There have been rumours the Newcastle man could be a target for Villa this summer, and Heskey would relish linking up with his former Liverpool and England strike partner.

"It would be nice," added the 31-year-old. "Obviously Michael's a great player, he's shown that on many occasions. He's been knocked and got up and performed again."

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. england are the best i want to shag you courtney

    From mamitu e, on Tue 9 Jun 1:09AM

  2. "Heskey jaded" - what a wuss (no change there­ then). For such a big bloke he doesn't half go­ down easily (spends more of the game on his backside­ than on his feet). No loss if he's missing of­ Wednesday.

    From safcalsftm, on Tue 9 Jun 1:08AM

  3. i love you courtney fordham i want to snog you

    From mamitu e, on Tue 9 Jun 1:06AM

  4. i love you courtney fordham i want to snog you

    From mamitu e, on Tue 9 Jun 1:03AM

  5. scarlet, whys the spelling so important to you and why­ so stressed

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 9 Jun 12:42AM

  6. Emily Heskey England best lol, my granny before her hip­ op was a better player might still be gets around on­ that zimmer frame like lightning and doesnt fall over­ as much.

    From BeachBabe, on Tue 9 Jun 12:38AM

  7. Scouse hater should learn to spell BARNES was his­ surname I believe...... Typical Manc

    From scarlet23, on Tue 9 Jun 12:37AM

  8. we wont win under any manager in the forseeable future,­ some players are performing
    at club level,few at­ international level, hence we wont win

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 9 Jun 12:32AM

  9. If Owen and Heskey are leading the line for England we­ dont stand a chance of winning anything its not 2001­ anymore. Heskey is in the side for 1 reason get the­ ball with your back to goal bend over stick your fat­ @#$% out into the defender then fall over and try to­ get a free kick.

    I would rather have Gerrard and­ Lennon playing as strikers than these 2.

    From Don, on Tue 9 Jun 12:32AM

  10. if we carn't win the world cup under cappello­ we'l never win it

    From Tom M, on Tue 9 Jun 12:20AM

  11. all the hate but he has found a renaissance...still­ advise fabio to pick up michael as what will team do if­ a striker (god forbid rooney) goes down? yes i know­ michael is not 100% but i would rather have him then­ rotting on the bench...hope he goes to villa to partner­ carew and gabby in 3-4-3

    From dustin, on Tue 9 Jun 12:17AM

  12. scouse, you left out paul ince. Thankfully those you­ named have skill, energy and passion, not something­ that can be said about Emile??

    From the silent assassin, on Tue 9 Jun 12:02AM

  13. what he might have said is, "we didnt perform well­ but we got the result we wanted against Kazakh, now­ bring on Andorra"

    From the silent assassin, on Mon 8 Jun 11:49PM

  14. Kevin & Timi
    i was referring to ME lol. last time i­ went overseas, the destination was from Australia to­ Serbia. from Australia, we flew to Dubai, and after­ spending a day in Dubai, we flew to Germany, then aftar­ a couple of hours waiting at the airport, boarded a­ plane for Serbia. and if that doesn't cause jetlag,­ then i don't know what does. but i didn't­ complain, and neither should Heskey. but in response to­ him answering an interview question, i see no reason­ why Eurosport would have written an article about it.

    From aleksicn93, on Mon 8 Jun 11:48PM

  15. "hopefully we'll get a result",that­ should set alarm bells ringing everywhere within­ football, what sort of statement is­ "hopefully" and how serious a challenge is­ Andorra to England ??? We've lost already with­ that attitude

    From the silent assassin, on Mon 8 Jun 11:45PM

  16. He is a donkey. I'm a Villa fan and hand on heart,­ he's a donkey. He scores a great goal on Saturday­ and then ruins it all by moaning about being sleepy.­ Poor baby. I'll send him a link to the Donkey­ Sanctuary, they'll look after him, he'll get­ plenty of sleep there.

    From Stephanie, on Mon 8 Jun 11:41PM

  17. Heskey doesnt do much and then complains of tiredness­ and jet lag, oh pleeeeeeeaaaaaase what next, hes hungry­ cos he didnt like the in flight meal..........

    From the silent assassin, on Mon 8 Jun 11:41PM

  18. The sunbathing most probably knackered him­ out....don't you just feel sorry for the poor lad,­ maybe he should change his job and work 70 hours a week­ and live of a paltry wage.........thought not.

    From JOHN, on Mon 8 Jun 11:35PM

  19. **STOP PRESS** 'Footballer tired after long­ journey.. you heard it here first!!'

    From Scan, on Mon 8 Jun 11:33PM

  20. What heroes going all that distance on a plane just for­ England , Im so proud bye the way how many time zones­ is it to Afghanistan ???

    From Glenn T, on Mon 8 Jun 11:33PM
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