Iwelumo can be our Carew

CHRIS IWELUMO is getting goose bumps just thinking about the fervour cascading from the stands at Hampden Park next Saturday. At the age of 30 and with 10 clubs in four countries to his name, the news that Wolverhampton Wanderers' answer to John Carew had finally made the Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifier against Norway even had the effect of instantly improving his golf.

"I was on the course last Wednesday when I got a message saying George Burley had picked me," says Iwelumo. "My game really picked up afterwards. But it was an emotional moment and for a minute I was stuck for words. I'm still pinching myself."

Among his mementoes is John Terry's Chelsea top, yet the blue shirt he always coveted is of a darker hue. Now the powerful target man – born in Coatbridge to a Scottish mother and Nigerian father, raised in Kilmarnock and with an accent as Scottish as tatties and neeps – is poised to pull on the synthetic fibres of his dreams.

As he made his way in the game, from Paisley to the West Midlands via Germany and Scandinavia, the Potteries and London, it appeared the journeyman striker would never quite reach his desired destination. Iwelumo, however, learned to see stumbling blocks as stepping stones, a potentially vital quality in Scotland's quest to reach South Africa. Whatever knock-backs football has thrown at him – including a failed trial with Celtic and frustrating near-misses during the reigns of Berti Vogts and Alex McLeish – he has reacted with renewed resolve.

Events again seemed to be conspiring against him when, after taking his tally for the campaign to eight goals with a hat-trick in Wolves' 3-0 victory at Preston, he was sent off for allegedly butting a defender. A three-match suspension left Burley to decide whether he would have the requisite edge for such an important game. "I'll be sharp enough all right," insists Iwelumo. "The way the Championship fixtures fall, the matches I missed all came in the space of a week. I've trained as normal and I'm feeling very fresh. The aim now is to try to make sure I'm involved."

Scotland already have three forwards, James McFadden, Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd, with an aggregate of 31 international goals. What does Iwelumo offer that is different? "I think I'll bring a physical presence. I get labelled as a target man, but I think my mobility is good too. And I like to nick a goal here and there as well."

The description invites comparisons with another half-African, 6ft 4in striker, Carew, who plies his trade at nearby Aston Villa and will line up against Scotland. "I'm flattered to be likened to him because he's a fantastic player," says Iwelumo. "A top-class finisher, quick, skilful, strong in the air and tactically aware. He has taken the Premier League by storm."

During his formative years, Iwelumo aspired to be like Pierre van Hooijdonk and Dion Dublin, attackers of a similar physique to himself. "I thought they were awesome, but I also liked Ally McCoist and Ian Wright because they were real goal-getters."

St Mirren gave him his start – he scored on his debut against Dumbarton while still at school – but at 19 he joined Aarhus in Denmark. When John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish were in charge at Celtic, his boyhood heroes, Iwelumo wore the hoops in a private friendly against Dundee, which, he admits, was "too much, too soon – I was overwhelmed". The disappointment left him "very low", but while on trial under David Moyes at Preston, he was offered a contract from Stoke City.

One team-mate there was Kris Commons, now a Scotland colleague, and Iwelumo also managed a Wembley cameo for Stoke in the Auto Windscreens Shield final. "I got my feet on the pitch," he grins, "even if I did touch the ball just once." That was once more than he did on Scotland's tour to the Far East, for which he was chosen by Vogts but had to forgo after his club reached the play-offs.

Later there were loans at York and Cheltenham and a promotion run with Brighton before another European adventure in 2005 with Alemania Aachen, where he sampled UEFA Cup football. The day after arriving in Germany, his wife Bianca discovered she was pregnant and they decided to move back closer to their families. After joining Colchester, Iwelumo plundered 37 goals in two years; in his season at Charlton, with whom he represented Scotland B against the Republic of Ireland during McLeish's final days, he scored 10.

A £400,000 summer switch to Mick McCarthy's Wolves has found him in the form of his life, thriving on the service of wingers Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis. Knowing that Burley was steeped in the Championship after sojourns at Ipswich, Derby and Southampton, Iwelumo hoped that his appointment by the SFA "might open the door for me".

Asked whether, as a black man with an African surname, he felt he had needed to convince people of his Scottishness as well as his striking prowess, he replies: "I'd hope that hasn't been an issue. Anyone who talks to me could tell I'm Scottish through and through. Playing down in England you can become the forgotten man. But now I've got a foot in the door, it's up to me to show what I'm about. I'd like to stand out by doing something special, like scoring."

Iwelumo cannot wait to press his case for inclusion against Norway. "It would be incredible to represent my country before a full house at Hampden, with all the flags and songs. The thought of it gives me goose bumps." Then there's the shirt collection to maintain. "I'll definitely keep mine if I play. But when I played for Scotland B we had three tops. If I did let one go, I'd try and go for the big man, Carew. That would be one to get framed, especially if we beat them."

HEAD TO HEAD

NAME: Christopher Robert Iwelumo

COUNTRY: Scotland

AGE: 30

HEIGHT: 6ft 4in

WEIGHT: 13st

CLUB: Wolves

2008/09 CLUB GOALS: 8

CAPS: 0

INTERNATIONAL GOALS: 0

NAME: John Alieu Carew

COUNTRY: Norway

AGE: 29

HEIGHT: 6ft 4in

WEIGHT: 14st 2lb

CLUB: Aston Villa

2008/09 CLUB GOALS: 4

CAPS: 72

INTERNATIONAL GOALS: 21