England striker Jermain Defoe: I’m still playing at 35 because I’ve never drank alcohol… my only weakness is bubblegum

JERMAIN DEFOE celebrated his 35th birthday yesterday.

Even if he hadn’t been preparing to win his 58th England cap in Lithuania this evening, he wouldn’t have marked the milestone in the traditional manner.

The Bournemouth striker has never touched a drop of alcohol in his life.

Now he’s eyeing up a trip to Russia for the World Cup Finals next summer, and refusing to accept that his late return to international football will necessarily end after the tournament.

“I feel really good,” said Defoe. “If I feel the same at 37, why shouldn’t I still be playing for England?

“If I was 25 with my current fitness stats, it wouldn’t even be a question.

“For me, age doesn’t really matter. I’ve worked hard and ticked every box in terms of what I can do to get myself fitter every passing season.

“I pay a lot of attention to my nutrition, and to what I can change so I’m not getting tired towards the end of games and train every day at the same level as the rest of the boys.

“At the moment, I’m trying to be vegan – but I love fish, so it’s a difficult one!

“I’ve never drank alcohol throughout my whole career. That’s probably why I’m still playing.

“I’m not saying I’m an angel, or that footballers shouldn’t drink. Everyone’s different.

“Maybe it comes from my mum. We used to live on an estate and I remember being at my bedroom window watching my mates outside – smoking, drinking, talking to girls.

“You want to be involved, but my mum used to say: ‘If you want to become a professional footballer, like you’ve been telling me since you were two, you have to do everything right’.

“There are times when I’m tough on myself. I go to a restaurant and think: ‘That chocolate brownie looks nice’.

“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices over the years and you get to this level because of that.

“It’s both a football and a lifestyle choice. It’s clean living.

“Sometimes I don’t leave the training ground till 4pm. I’m not saying I love doing it, but it helps me.

“After games I do ice baths, cryotherapy, massage. I understand my body a lot more than I did.

“I don’t judge other players. It’s important to focus on yourself.

“My only weakness is bubblegum! When I was at Sunderland, there was this shop that sold all the old sweets. I still get boxes delivered to my house!”

Defoe gives credit for his longevity to former Arsenal fitness coach, Tiberius Darau, who took the then-Tottenham player under his wing after the 2010 World Cup.

“I loved that guy,” said Defoe. “He told me he’d put five years on my career if I listened to him, and I think he was right.

“He was based in Cannes, and Ian Wright said to me after the World Cup that I needed to go to see him.

“I went to him for about 10 days and I’d never trained like that before in my life.

“It was all explosive stuff – two hours in the morning, running round cones and jumping hurdles, a short sleep then gym for another two hours.

“I kept going back to him every year, 10 days before pre-season.

“During the season I would call him every morning and ask him what I needed to do. That happened right up until I went to Toronto.

“He died a couple of years ago but I remember everything he taught me.”

Defoe was recalled by Southgate – a fellow substitute the day Defoe made his England debut in 2004 – earlier this year, four years after his last cap.

He’d been expecting to be part of Roy Hodgson’s squad in Brazil but, having moving to the MLS, he didn’t make the final cut.

“It was tough to miss out on Brazil, but I had the same thing in 2006 and it was tougher for me then because I was younger and it was the first big disappointment of my career,” Defoe continued.

“It was still hard when I got the phone call from Roy. It was disappointing because when I left Tottenham in the March, I was sharp, scoring goals and involved in the squad. I felt I’d done enough.

“When I went to Toronto, it was the perfect deal for the club, myself and my family.

“I didn’t think I had anything to prove over here, and I just wanted the experience. I wouldn’t change it.

“I’m not saying I should have started matches in Brazil, but I’ve always believed I can score goals at this level.

“To this day, I still feel I should have gone to that World Cup but I didn’t come out and say anything.

“My mum always said that when you get disappointments, you just have to deal with them and come back stronger.

“It could happen again, but I’m just trying to have a good season at Bournemouth. You get into the squad on merit and you’ve got to be playing well for your club.

“People ask how long I’ll keep playing. I don’t know, but I still enjoy everything about it.

“When I stop, I’ll miss the build-up and having something to look forward to at the end of the week.

“I’ve never thought about calling time on England to prolong my club career.

“To think you’re never going to put on an England shirt again would be a hard one.

“You might reach a stage when you’d have to be honest, and say: ‘There’s no point kidding myself here. I can’t do it physically’.

“When you’re in your 20s, you don’t think that at 35 you’ll still, hopefully, be playing in a World Cup.

“It does feel like every second counts now, but I’ve felt like that from day one. I’ve always known how important it is to play for your country. It’s the pinnacle.

“That’s never left me. It’s always been inside me. When I meet up with the squad now, I get that same buzz and I don’t think it will ever go.

“There were times when I thought my England career was over.

“At Sunderland, for instance, under Sam Allardyce when I was scoring nearly every game and physically I felt strong.

“It just wasn’t happening, but I was quite relaxed about it because the younger lads were coming through and doing well.”

If Defoe does make it to Russia, it will be partly down to his positive attitude to tournaments.

He even confesses to having enjoyed the notoriously unpopular Rustenburg experience under Fabio Capello in South Africa.

“You’ve just got to enjoy it without putting too much pressure on yourself,” he said.

“That’s how I approached it in South Africa because I thought I was living the dream.

“I was like a little kid again. It was what I always wanted to do, so why should I have been scared?

“I wasn’t bothered about not having much to do at the camp because I was at a World Cup.

“You’re there for a reason. You focus on the games. I loved it. If I go to Russia and the manager says: ‘I’m not starting you today’, I’ll be thinking: ‘I’m going to come on and score the winner’.

“When you go to a tournament, it’s not about the first XI, it’s about the squad.”

Defoe has made a modest start to his Bournemouth career following his move from Sunderland.

But there’s one area of his life that catapulted him to the forefront of public attention this year.

His friendship with the Black Cats mascot Bradley Lowery, who died in July aged six after a battle with neuroblastoma, identified Defoe as one of the game’s good guys.

“I have so many good memories,” he reflected. “He was such a special boy and I’m blessed that I had that relationship with him.

“Obviously, it was really hard at the time, and I think about him every day.

“I have pictures of us together in my house. I’ve saved his messages on my phone, I have videos.

“Whenever I came away from meeting him, I always had a good feeling inside.

“His mum would say he hadn’t moved or eaten all day until I walked in, and then he would jump up as soon as he saw me.

“There are times when I get upset because it’s still fresh.

“Our relationship was special. I still speak to Gemma and Carl, his mum and dad, a beautiful family.

“I’ll never forget him.”