MOST internationalists can trace their first cap back to a long-held dream of one day representing their country, but Chris Iwelumo has seen his ambition develop into something of an obsession after coming tantalisingly close in the past to winning that first Scotland cap he feared would always elude him.
First Berti Vogts, then Alex McLeish, toyed with the idea of pitching the imposing 6ft 4in forward into the international arena, but just as he seemed ready to make his Scotland bow, circumstances always seemed to conspire against the 30-year-old.
The appointment of George Burley in January allowed Iwelumo to dream again, spurred on by the knowledge that the new manager had extensive knowledge of his attributes, having seen him play for Colchester and Charlton when the two were both operating in England's Coca-Cola Championship.
While Burley has left those club days with Derby and Southampton behind him, Iwelumo continues to shine in that division, scoring eight goals in eight games in the golden shirt of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Inevitably, though perhaps unfairly, he is burdened with the tag of 'journeyman' having played for 11 clubs in four countries including his teenage bow with St Mirren, but armed with first-hand knowledge of his strengths, Burley did not hesitate to draft a capable and hungry player into the squad.
Burley had no intention of confining him to a fringe role as a squad makeweight. The Scotland manager has proved he is his own man and he insisted that not only did he have faith in Iwelumo's ability but he would also consider the new boy for a role against Norway at Hampden today.
True to his word, Iwelumo is expected to be sent on at some stage of the crucial Group 9 World Cup qualifier, and if that happens he can finally start living a dream that has taken an age to materialise.
Iwelumo has previous form for being thrown in at the deep end. St Mirren manager Jimmy Bone deemed him physically and mentally strong enough to cope with first-team football at 18, and he also had to rise above the occasional chant of racist abuse from the sidelines at that tender age. "He had a bit about him," said Bone. "He was very confident and that meant we could put him into the first team without any worries, even though he was young."
An 18-month spell in Denmark with Aarhus marked Iwelumo out as a young man not afraid to step into the unknown. "My spells abroad were great for me in terms of my development," he recalled, "I joined Aarhus in the Danish First Division and learned to live in a new country and adapt to new football. Then later on – because I had a German agent at the time – I moved to Alemania Aachen. They were in the Uefa Cup, but I didn't play as often as I would have liked and returned to join Colchester."
In between these moves, Iwelumo graced Preston, York, Cheltenham and Brighton and Stoke – his involvement costing him his first chance of making a breakthrough with Scotland.
Iwelumo, the Coatbridge-born son of a Nigerian surgeon and Glaswegian nurse, had caught the eye of Berti Vogts and his name had been pencilled in for the 2002 tour to the Far East. But as Stoke were involved in the play-offs, Iwelumo called off and his chance would arrive another day.
With Alex McLeish in charge, that chance edged closer when he played in a B International against the Republic of Ireland, acquitting himself well.
He had matured as a player at Colchester then Charlton, working on his physique and touch, and finding his efforts rewarded by a steady flow of goals. "As a kid I liked watching Duncan Ferguson and his approach to the game," he explained. " and while I'm not saying I'm as good as he was, I think I could do a similar job."
To typecast Iwelumo as a fearsome battering ram would be doing him a disservice though. He operates well as a target man but has a good touch and has a surprisingly clean disciplinary record – even more surprising as he is in the middle of a three-match ban for Wolves, just the second suspension of a career that has yielded only 11 yellow cards.
Navy blue is the only colour Iwelumo is interested in today, however. He has seen it in his dreams often enough and now Burley can make it a reality.
The full article contains 764 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
