Jermain Defoe (born October 7, 1982 in Beckton, London, England) is an English footballer. He was born to an St. Lucian mother and Dominican father. He is a centre-forward who plays club football for Tottenham Hotspur.
Defoe started his career with Charlton Athletic, and was somewhat controversially signed by West Ham in 1999 before having actually played a game for Charlton. West Ham were subsequently ordered to pay substantial compensation. In 2003, Tottenham paid £7,000,000 to bring him to White Hart Lane.
Before leaving West Ham for Tottenham, Defoe had a loan spell with Second Division club Bournemouth where he broke the record for getting on the score sheet in a record number of consecutive league games, scoring in 10 games in a row. This record still stands in English professional football.
Defoe has made a number of international appearances for England, scoring on his first full start for the national team on September 8, 2004 with a vital goal in the 2-1 win over Poland, and is now considered a regular in the squad.
With his lightning pace Jermain exploded onto the scene with a debut goal for Tottenham against Portsmouth at White Hart Lane, in the 2003 - 2004 season and added a further six for that season, scoring 7 goals in 14 matches.
In 2004 - 2005, he scored 13 goals in 28 matches in the Premiership and 9 goals in 7 matches in domestic cup competitions (FA Cup and League Cup). These impressive statistics only confirm that Jermain is recognised as one of most deadly finishers of his age group in europe.
Jermain was recently voted to have scored the best goal of that season for Tottenham Hotspur, according to polls on their official site.
