Darius back down to earth after 'that goal'

Darius Vassell was back to his childhood roots on Thursday, kicking a ball against a garage door. The 21-year-old Aston Villa striker, whose spectacular equaliser for England in the friendly against Holland in Amsterdam last month raised cheers and eyebrows in equal measure, did his door-kicking stuff behind a hotel in Sutton Coldfield, three stops up the Trent Valley rail line from his actual birthplace, Erdington. But who wants to quibble over a mile or two? The session was part of a magazine series called Goalposts organised by Umbro in which famous strikers return to where they started playing football. The fact that he is the third to be featured in this series, behind Alan Shearer and Michael Owen, offers dramatic indication of how Vassell has shot up in the estimation of more than just the money men in the past few weeks.

Baseball cap pulled low over his face, Vassell proves something of an enigma. Is he cool to the ultimate degree, a master masker of emotions, disarmingly honest – or simply shy? Of that unforgettable goal, he says: "I didn't think the ball was actually going to get to me, I just gambled." His attitude to life? "To cause defenders problems." And the stupendous surge in his fortunes, generated by a single goal, is labelled "a very interesting season".

Very interesting indeed. Villa's former manager, John Gregory, had labelled Vassell "made of glass". This was partly a description of the injuries he has suffered – a broken leg at 13, broken ankle at 18, regular hamstring problems – but also a reflection of Gregory's frustration at not being able to get more than 60 or 70 minutes' effort out of his player. For someone who has been with Villa since the age of 11, consistency of performance had become an urgent requirement.

As something of a gambler, as well as motivator, Gregory told Darius he would be starting Villa's first 11 matches of this season, regardless of form. "I always thought he had it in him," said Gregory, "but I was dubious about his durability because he could never see a game through." The decision meshed perfectly with Vassell's own ambition. "I wanted to start the season's first game, that's all, and I am thankful to him for that. Things just went on from there."

So well have they gone on that Vassell has scored 10 times for Villa and is clearly further benefiting from the stated intention of Gregory's successor, Graham Taylor, to place a strong emphasis on attack. But it was 'that goal' which sent the lad from Erdington's reputation spiralling off the scale. The scorer was not unaware of the importance of that chest-high volley. "I wasn't surprised at the reaction," he said. "I knew I had done well for myself, I knew everybody else was going to be happy for me. It felt good to be in the papers, in the spotlight."

England's captain, David Beckham made a point of telling Darius: "Great goal on your debut." But the team's overnight journey back from Holland and a 3am return to his home in Wylde Green gave him the opportunity to calm down. "There was a load of messages on my phone and my mum and dad came to see me the next day, but it hasn't made all that much difference around here. I am a local lad anyway, so most people already know me.

"At Villa they gave me a bit of stick, which I expected, but it was nice and brought me straight down to earth. And I haven't noticed any different attitude among the other Premiership teams, either. I think they are still out to get me, to tackle me, to kick me, whatever. What happened was brilliant, amazing, but I've never found it hard to keep my feet on the ground. That's not the end of my career, I've still got a lot more to do."

That was also the gist of advice offered by Taylor. The Villa manager stressed the importance of more scores for club and country. "If you don't score any more for England," said Taylor, "in five or six years' time no one will care about that goal, it will just be important to you." Taylor also feels there is more pressure on Vassell than the scorer of that other memorable England goal, John Barnes. Vassell's was in the middle of a crucial year, while Barnes' came in an end-of-season tour game in Brazil.

The association does not alarm Vassell: "I have scored better goals than the Amsterdam one. There were a couple for the Villa youth team, not so acrobatic and not for England, but they were individual goals, technical goals." Vassell once fancied being a winger, like his childhood hero, Tony Daley, but ball-into-net proved more attractive when he joined Villa as a schoolboy. "I have never really counted all the goals I got but I remember one season in the youth team I scored 39.

"Amsterdam now seems a long time ago. I have played three games since then and the furthest I ever look back is at my last game." The next game, in this case against Arsenal today, is also the furthest forward Vassell is prepared to look, notwithstanding that his name will certainly be in the squad to be announced by Sven Goran Eriksson next weekend for England's game against Italy at Elland Road on 27 March.

"I look forward to the opportunity," he said. "It's a brilliant thought, isn't it, to play for your country, something to be proud of. But you have to be professional and try to put these things to the back of your mind. I am looking to give 100 per cent against Arsenal and that's the only thing I want to be focusing on. I have got other goals closer to home right now. At Villa we are looking to try to get a little run going for ourselves to get back up the table. So Arsenal is a big game for us. Our aim is to get into Europe, to try to achieve something at the end of the season."

And his own ambition? "To perform well in the next game. I want to finish the season still a first-team regular. If I achieve one thing I can try for the next one. As a boy I didn't dream about playing for England as much as about playing for Aston Villa. Then hopefully you will get to the bigger picture."

The bigger picture is, of course, the World Cup. Vassell has made no plans for summer holidays but then, he says, he never does. But if he does go, and if England do well, there will be an important date in the life of Darius Vassell. Sunday 30 June, the day of the World Cup final, is his 22nd birthday.