Tottenham Hotspur - 0 Norwich - 0: It is no joke, but the influence in the Premiership of a Dane, a Frenchman and an Ulsterman could have a happy punchline for England.
The policy of Spurs' Danish sporting director Frank Arnesen and French manager Jacques Santini for building a strong local backbone to the Tottenham side should give those fearing the squandering of English talents cause to reconsider.
There is equal reason for England supporters to applaud the contribution of the Norwich manager Nigel Worthington in nurturing a goalkeeper whose Premiership presence could do as much to punish David James's error in Austria last week as anything else.
For the Canaries' 24-year-old Robert Green and Spurs' Jermain Defoe, 21, put on a titanic battle for supremacy yesterday that bodes well for the future of England's senior side. At the other end, Paul Robinson, who started ahead of James in Poland last Wednesday, twice thwarted Darren Huckerby, and Green believes the pressure is now on Manchester City's goalkeeper.
"We (Paul Robinson and I) are both 24 and even if David comes back and regains his place we have time on our side," said the Norwich goalkeeper, who grew in stature with every shot from Defoe - and there were many he had to stand tall against.
Following an international break - to which Spurs, with six on representative duty, had lost exactly twice as many players as Norwich - these might have been testing circumstances for the home side.
Such sentiments might have been reinforced by the failure of the first 15 minutes to produce any presentable opportunities. Then Defoe took the initiative.
His annus mirabilis, which began with a January move to White Hart Lane and peaked with a goal for England last week, continues to sparkle.
From his fifth-minute intervention on the edge on his own area that set up a break for Frederic Kanoute, Defoe was the central character in Spurs' piece and was three times denied by the narrowest of margins.
Driving from deep, Defoe escaped Damien Francis and let fly with a shot from 25 yards that sped past him on its way back from Green's right-hand post. Then, after setting up his strike partner for a shot he could only direct at the goalkeeper from four yards, Defoe was denied by Youssef Safri's goal-line lunge.
Spurs were increasing their pressure on Green's goal, with Jamie Redknapp and Kanoute both flashing shots inches wide. But it was not until after the interval that the best chances arose, with most falling to Defoe.
Though ignorance of Defoe's recent form would surely require deliberate effort, Norwich often assisted his bursts. Marc Edworthy, Francis, Simon Charlton and Adam Drury were all guilty of pulling out of tackles to aid Defoe's three best chances.
The second of these came with Charlton and Drury backing off, allowing Defoe to force a spectacular diving stop from Green. However, Green's best was yet to come.
With Defoe miskicking for once, Robbie Keane was unmarked 10 yards out as he picked up the ricochet. The shot seemed certain to end in an 81st-minute winner for Spurs, yet Green's one-handed save clawed the ball away from danger.
The shared points saw Norwich climb from the bottom three on goals scored and Spurs slip from the top-three spot they occupied. But only Defoe should be truly frustrated.
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