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Joe Hart shows Fabio Capello he is ready to be England's No1Only injury or extreme selectorial eccentricity can stop the keeper taking up a permanent role for England
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Joe Hart played with the sort of unfussy confidence against Hungary that can spread through an entire defence. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images
Joe Hart played all 92 minutes of the match against Hungary at Wembley, and nothing in his display suggested that Fabio Capello need concern himself about looking any further for a No1 keeper. Only injury or an outbreak of extreme selectorial eccentricity can now stand between the 23-year-old and a permanent role in England's qualifying campaign for Euro 2012.
In his first starting appearance for the team, Hart played with the sort of unfussy confidence that can spread through an entire defence. He did the simple things well, preserved the victory with one notable save near the end, and generally allowed the proactive nature that has shaped his career to shine throughout a difficult evening on which the members of England's Under-17 squad, recent winners of the European Championship, were introduced to the crowd with the sound of the half-time jeers for their seniors still ringing around the stadium.
With his 21 caps at Under-21 level, Hart offers proof that real talent can still make the transition to the senior ranks seem straightforward. That should come as a particular relief to Capello, given the uncertainty over the goalkeeping position since the retirement of David Seaman in 2002. After 75 caps, even the Arsenal stalwart ended up a casualty of a position that has since claimed the reputations of Paul Robinson, Scott Carson and Robert Green. Ronaldinho's free-kick in Shizuoka and Artim Sakiri's corner at St Mary's provoked the unhappy finish to Seaman's tenure, while his notional successor, David James, never quite managed to establish himself as the undisputed first choice.
Given the inferior quality of last night's opposition, Hart's fourth senior appearance hardly presented the most substantial test of his credentials. With five minutes gone he gathered Akos Elek's glancing header from a free-kick, after 17 minutes he came out to punch away Balazs Dzsudzsak's corner, and on the half-hour he gathered Zoltan Gera's harmless 20-yard shot. In the second half he was virtually unemployed until Hungary were awarded a goal which, since the ball did not fully cross the line, should not have been given, and for which the goalkeeper carried no blame.
There was, however, a moment that he will remember with pride, and it came with only a minute and a half of normal time remaining. So little occupied during the second half that he might almost have been forgiven for allowing his attention to wander, he reacted brilliantly when Gera made ground in the inside-right channel and left Phil Jagielka and Kieran Gibbs floundering before unleashing a fierce drive. Anticipating the danger, Hart had come out and narrowed the angle in time to parry the Hungary captain's effort. An equaliser at that moment would have doused spirits revived by Steven Gerrard's goals and done considerable harm to Capello's attempt to revive his credibility in time for the European qualifying campaign.
Goodness knows why it has taken Capello so long to identify Hart as his No1. He and his cabal of assistants – Franco Baldini and his two goalkeeping coaches, Franco Tancredi and Ray Clemence – have long expressed their admiration of an impressive young man who communicates well not only with his defenders but also with the outside world, reminding us that he left his science college in Shrewsbury, his birthplace, as head boy.
Hart's courageous decision to take his destiny into his own hands by going on a season-long loan from Manchester City to Birmingham City last season, in response to the arrival of Shay Given at Eastlands, suggests that it must have been especially painful for him to stand silently in the shadows while first Green and then James were given preference in South Africa.
Having been named as Manchester City's No1 keeper by Sven-Goran Eriksson at the start of the 2008-09 season, a year later he reacted to Mark Hughes's decision to pay Newcastle United £6m for Given, the experienced Republic of Ireland international, by taking a bold step that has certainly paid off in terms of his own career. A season with Birmingham led to a nomination for the PFA's Young Player of the Year award and an appearance in the same body's Premier League team of the year, ahead of such superstars as Petr Cech, Edwin van der Sar and Pepe Reina.
Now he has swapped dark blue for the paler shade again, and it will be a severe indictment of Roberto Mancini's stewardship if the Italian decides that Hart is not a big enough name to fit into his all-star team sheet. Mancini might care to note that a statistical comparison between Given's performances with Manchester City and Hart's with Birmingham City last season, given particular relevance by the fact that their workloads were almost identical (36 matches, 3,240 minutes and 42 goals conceded for Hart versus 35, 3,136 and 42 for Given), shows that the younger man made more saves (124 to 95), more punches (34 to 19) and more catches (69 to 33). He also dropped the ball only twice, to Given's five fumbles.
But statistics can only take you so far. What Hart has to recommend him above his rivals is a presence on the field, that indefinable quality which ought to be a prerequisite for an international player. He has had to wait a little longer than Iker Casillas, Spain's first choice at 21, or Gianluigi Buffon, who took over for Italy at 22, but better late than never.
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