Starting his run just past the half-way line, as Napoli players battled and won the ball in midfield, Jose Callejon raced down the middle, squeezing past two Roma defenders before collecting Gonzalo Higuain’s perfect pass from the left.
Then in one glorious movement, Napoli’s right winger fooled a Giallorossi defender sliding in, before he switched feet from 12 yards out and perfectly side-footed home with his right. It was his eighth goal in ten league games, taking him uniquely to the top of the goal-scoring charts and finally into the squad of Spanish national Coach Vicente Del Bosque.
Since their abject failure in last summer’s World Cup, Spain have struggled on the national stage and after losing to Slovakia in the Euro 2016 qualifiers recently Del Bosque has been left searching for inspiration. Looking towards Italy last week he obviously feels the ex-Real Madrid forward can provide it along with Juventus’ young striker Alvaro Morata.
“I chose to call them for their excellent run of form,” he explained. “We need players that can embarrass the Belarus defence. We will try to take advantage of their capabilities.” Callejon has yet to be capped for the senior side and his alertness, anticipation and assurance would add layers to Spain’s first XI.
Jose himself has described his selection as ‘a moment of great joy.’ “I’m very happy for this call,” he said. “It’s the dream of every player to wear the jersey of the national team. I thank Napoli, the Coach and my teammates for this moment of great joy. I heard the news at the end of training and I immediately celebrated with my teammates.”
With the likes of Andrea Iniesta, David Silva, Federico Llorente, Federico Torres and Diego Costa all out, for one reason or another, Jose, although not an out-and-out striker, can certainly cover any of the positions the above fill. The pacey Napoli No 7 is the perfect example of a top class modern footballer, a versatile game changer who, unlike an archetypal bomber is not confined to only breathe inside the penalty area.
As Napoli Coach Rafa Benitez’s go-to-guy Jose is the symbol of the sort of football that Benitez coaches: movement, possession, insertions between the lines and behind the defensive line, add in his goals and Del Bosque, if he uses him right, has his answer.
Del Bosque’s former assistant certainly thinks his top scorer is the answer for Spain. “I think his time will come soon for La Roja,” said Benitez. “Callejon is the best Spanish player to come to Italy since Luis Suarez.”
The former Inter and Barcelona legend himself also added to that claiming Jose is the right man at the right moment. “I think that he already deserves the call from Spain, going by what he has achieved recently,” echoed Suarez. “They have to see his abilities up close, especially considering that the national team is currently in a significant moment of transition. He has a lot of quality but we already knew that before he arrived in Italy. But now he’s demonstrating his goal-scoring ability with Napoli. It’s true that he did it last year also but he’s excelling even more this season.”
In the 4-2-3-1 system used by Benitez, Jose occupies the right side in an attacking midfield trio behind his former Real Madrid colleague, striker Higuain. His innate talent to offer both the positional and passing discipline needed, while interchanging almost seamlessly with the others, are just some of the reasons why he could fit in well with Del Bosque’s 4-3-3. “I’m happy to play as a striker, I really like it and when I was younger that was my position.”
Amongst his many skills Callejon also possesses boundless energy, enthusiasm and an ability to press defenders, make threatening runs and maintaining motivation throughout games. Certainly it’s enough for Benitez to claim he would be ideal for La Roja: “Callejon is working very well and for me he is good enough to get in the Spanish team.” For Spain’s sake let’s hope he does.
