BOURNEMOUTH, England -- At 36 and with almost two decades of professional football behind him, there is something refreshingly childlike about Jermain Defoe. Elite sport is a tough business and Defoe, slightly built and standing at just 5-foot-6, has endured almost two decades of being on the wrong end of bruising challenges by imposing, physical defenders. Yet it hasn't done anything to quell his enthusiasm for the game. Indeed, you'd expect the exact opposite:
A cynical and hard-bitten veteran of six clubs without a major trophy to show for his time, sour on life and sport as he approaches the twilight of his career.