The disappointment of being excluded from England manager Gareth Southgate’s 2022 World Cup squad has fueled West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen to deliver what he considers the "best football" of his career, ultimately earning him a recall to the Three Lions.
The 26-year-old, now included in England’s squad for Friday’s friendly against Australia and a European Championship qualifier against Italy next Tuesday at Wembley, earned all four of his England caps leading up to Qatar, intensifying the sting of his exclusion from the World Cup squad.
“I was disappointed to miss out but that’s what happened,” Bowen told reporters after training at St. George’s Park on Tuesday.
“I had to deal with it and all I could do is keep playing football to a level that I know that I can play at and everything will take care of itself.
“I had a really good pre-season, had some good games, scored goals there and you can take confidence and momentum from each game that you play. For me, that’s all I’ve tried to be doing. Keep playing football with a smile on my face because you know that what makes me a good player … when I’m playing with a smile on my face.”
With the call-up from Southgate on Thursday and the subsequent sealing of a new seven-year deal with West Ham on Sunday, Jarrod Bowen's smile has been noticeably wider in recent days.
Bowen boasts an impressive record of 45 goals in 167 games for the Hammers, notably including the game-winning strike in the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina last June. As of now, he stands as West Ham’s leading scorer in the Premier League this season with five goals. This remarkable week could potentially culminate with his inaugural appearance at Wembley.
“That would be the ultimate,” Bowen said. “As a little boy you dream of playing for your country and you never think it is going to happen, but now I am here, I want to play at Wembley and hopefully I get the opportunity to do so.”
Bowen said being a new dad – he and partner Dani Dyer welcomed twin girls in late-May – has made him more mature.
“You try and keep football away from home life as much as possible because you might have a bad game and you don’t want to take it home to your children,” he said. “It is just a special moment, every time you go home you are excited and when you finish a game you are excited to see them.”
England leads Group C with 13 points from five games, followed by Italy, Ukraine, and North Macedonia, each with seven points.
Unfortunately, Southgate’s team received a setback on Sunday as Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed that Bukayo Saka would be unavailable for the October international fixtures, owing to a persistent hamstring injury.
