Jermain Colin Defoe is an English striker, born in London.
Defoe started to train in the Charlton Athletic youth academy, where he came at the age of 14. In 1999 the player joined West Ham, which paid about £1.4 for the promising forward. At the beginning Jermain failed to get to ‘The Hammers’ first team and was sent on loan to Bournemouth in October 2000. However, Defoe had managed to make his debut for West Ham in September 2000, even before he went to his temporary team.
The English forward showed a rather good play in the Bournemouth side club, scoring 18 goals in 29 matches. After the footballer had returned to London, he could count on the place in the main team. From 2001 till 2004 Defoe played 93 matches for West Ham and netted 29 goals. In January 2004 he moved to Tottenham, which bought him for about £7 million. The footballer soon became the main striking force of his new club and took part almost in every match of Spurs. Jermain spent four years playing for Tottenham, made 139 appearances and found the net 43 times. In January 2008 he transferred to Portsmouth, first on loan and then on continuing basis for £6 million. Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko became the main attacking line of Spurs.
Playing for ‘Pompey’, the English striker developed a productive partnership with Milan Baroš, Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka. In the second half of 2007/2008 he contributed eight goals in 12 matches. His first goal for Portsmouth was on 2 February 2008 in the match against Chelsea. That kick helped the team to secure an important 1-1 draw. Defoe took part in every match of the first round of the Premier League 2008/2009, but still had eight goals on the scoresheet. In January 2009 the management of Tottenham unexpectedly decided to get Jermain back to White Hart Lane and paid about £15.5 million for his move.
Defoe spent the 2009/2010 season in London, beginning to play for Spurs with skill and zeal. On 22 November 2009, he made a penta trick, chipping in five goals in the match against Wigan Athletic. Only Alan Shearer and Andy Cole could boast such achievement. During that season he amassed 24 goals. The beginning of 2010/2011 was darkened by an ankle injury that left him without football for three months. Defoe spent the 2011/2012 season in the shadow of Emmanuel Adebayor, but that didn’t prevent him from firing 11 goals in 25 league matches.
In February 2014 Defoe completed a move to an MLS side Toronto.
Defoe made his debut for the Three Lions in March 2004, when the squad played against the Sweden national football team. In 2010 he went to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There Jermain banged in an only goal in the match against the Slovenia national team, which helped the England squad to make their way through to the Round of 16. In 2012 he was included in main Three Lions squad for UEFA Euro 2012, but the footballer went to the tournament as a reserve player. Defoe has taken part in more than 50 international matches for the full England squad and went on to net 19 times.
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