If Jarrod Bowen does not board the England team plane for UEFA Euro 2024, it will not be for want of trying.
The West Ham United forward has given everything in his quest to go to a first major international tournament, scoring 20 goals and assisting ten more for the Hammers this season just ended, and producing a succession of eye-catching performances for his country.
Factor in his UEFA Europa Conference League winner for the Hammers a year ago this week and Bowen has surely put together a compelling case to be one of the 26 players who manager Gareth Southgate picks to go to Germany.
In a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park on Monday, Bowen was again to the fore, making darting runs, drawing fouls, combining with his teammates, testing the opposition goalkeeper and being desperately unfortunate not to score his first England goal when Ezri Konsa inadvertently blocked his goal-bound shot late on.
With the deadline for final squad selections set for 11pm on Friday 7 June, Bowen has potentially one more on-field audition to come through, a warm-up fixture against Iceland at Wembley Stadium earlier that evening, and the 27-year-old has vowed to give his all, again, to convince Southgate of his worth.
“Speaking personally, I think I’m here on merit for what I’ve done since I’ve been at West Ham and it’s about finding that balance where, yes, you want to impress, but you also don’t want to try and do too much,” he told Sky Sports News following Monday’s game in Newcastle upon Tyne.
“You want to play your own game that’s got you here in the first place so for me it’s staying on that path and staying with that mindset, I think.”
Bowen was first capped by England in June 2022, but missed out on selection for that winter’s FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar. The Hammers star’s omission has driven him on ever since.
“I don’t know if I’m a better player, but I’m just more mature as a player and I think that comes with age, with the games that you play and confidence from the games that you play and every opportunity you have here [with England], you gain confidence from it,” he explained.
“I think that I’m not in a different headspace, but more mature as a player and more comfortable with these big occasions. That was only my eighth cap, so I’m still fairly new, but I’ve been in and around camps long enough to know what it takes to play at this level. So, as I said, every time I get this opportunity it’s about doing everything I can to get in the squad that I didn’t manage to before.
“Of course it (not being selected for the World Cup) makes me want it more, but I’ve got to find a balance like we just spoke about of not doing too much. The group we’ve got, the players and the coaching staff, make you really welcome so it’s a great group to be involved in. We’ll see what happens on Friday.
“We have one more game before that [against Iceland] which will be a good test before the first Euros game and these games are important to gain confidence and get the good results and good performances.”
