PLAYER PROFILE

Darius Vassell

Position: Forward

Height: 5'7

Weight: 12st 0lbs

Date of Birth: 1980-06-13 Birmingham, England

Darius Vassell

It was quite a while ago now that Darius Vassell came to the attention of the Aston Villa youth coaches, when in the season of 1996/97 he smashed the youth team record, managing a haul of 39 goals. The 2002/03 season was another major breakthrough for Vassell but at a much higher level. Playing in 39 games for Villa and upping his total number of England caps to 14.

Darius made his debut for the Midlands side in the 1998/99 season, playing the last 9 minutes as a replacement for Julian Joachim in the 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough in August.

After a while on the bench he made his breakthrough into the starting line-up, and one of his best early moments came in Europe. Vassell entered the fray as a substitute after 80 minutes with Villa 2-1 down at home to Stromsgodset of Norway in the 1st round 1st leg of the UEFA Cup. Not only did he score an equalising goal in the 91st minute, but Vassell also got the winner in the 94th minute instantly becoming every Villa fan's favourite player.

However, after this, he struggled to make a lasting impact on the Villa side, and even admitted that he feared being labelled a "one game wonder". Any chance of that being the case evaporated in the 2001/02 season. Together with Juan Pablo Angel, Vassell's goals catapulted Villa to a brief spell at the top of the table. Vassell scored 16 goals overall, and came to the attention of Sven Goran Eriksson, who picked him for a friendly against Holland in February 2002. His selection was seen more as a reward for his performances in the league than a real chance for him to get into the national team. However, no-one told Vassell. His spectacular overhead kick gave England an equaliser, and gave him the platform to build upon.

With 3 goals in his first 6 games, Vassell certainly did that, not only forcing his way into the World Cup squad, but also the starting line-up for the opening game, where he performed with the same lack of fear or nerves that have characterised his performances so far.

In 2002/03 and 2003/04, Vassell continued to play regularly for Villa and scored a respectable number of goals, but there was still the feeling that he could do much more. Despite this, he earned a call-up to England's Euro 2004 squad, scoring twice in a warm-up against Iceland.

He came on as a substitute in all four of their games in the tournament, but sadly the abiding memory of him is the penalty he had saved by Ricardo in the quarter-final against Portugal.

Vassell recovered well from this disappointment at the start of the season as he scored twice in 11 appearances.

However, a broken ankle, suffered in an Ocober match against Fulham, ruled him out until February. On returning, he never truly recaptured his form but he did score once in his 11 further performances. His time at Villa came to a sudden end in July 2005 when Manchester City put in a €2m bid for him that was accepted by David O'Leary, and Vassell wrapped up the move by signing a four-year deal.

His first season at Manchester City saw him occasionally plagued by his old injury problems, but he forged a good partnership with Andy Cole and scored ten goals.

He continued this fine form in 2006/07 as he scored five goals in 32 starts, and although he was more of a utility man in 2007/08, he continued to be a vital contributer to the City cause.