Bobby Zamora had reached the stage where excitement and suspicion vied with one another as he got word that he was in the England squad. The news arrived by a text message that included a phone number in case he needed to have transport arranged. He rang it just to make sure this was no hoax.
Such a tale is particularly heartening after all the anger towards more famous players who showed no zest at the World Cup finals. Zamora, uncapped at the age of 29, has not had the luxury of feeling that he is part of the elite. Last year, indeed, it looked as if the Fulham forward would instead start an international career with Trinidad & Tobago.
In reality he has not been a genuine outsider. Zamora had some prospect of being at least in the provisional England squad for the World Cup, judging by his conversation with the general manager, Franco Baldini, but he needed surgery on an achilles injury after his club's defeat by Atlético Madrid in the Europa League final.
Baldini told Zamora then that England might still pick him for the friendly with Hungary that takes place this evening. Now that Darren Bent has withdrawn from the party with a back injury, the Fulham attacker is very likely to start.
Comparisons with the now-retired Emile Heskey are not necessarily welcome, but Zamora does have the muscle to link with Wayne Rooney as the Aston Villa player did in merrier times with England. "I'm all right at pretty much most things but I like having the ball up to me and bringing people into play," he said. "If we can get in and around the edge of the box I like to set people up for shots."
His selection for the squad brought a congratulatory text from his former West Ham United team-mate Teddy Sheringham, but that heart-warming moment was only feasible because of some chilling factors. Candidates for the England attack have become disturbingly rare and a downsizing of expectations is also in progress.
This national team will be a phenomenon for one more day at least, but not because of its excellence. Although the likely turnout of around 60,000 is taken as a sign of disaffection, there are, in reality, few if any countries where such an attendance could be anticipated in the wake of the World Cup ignominy. Even the chance to jeer would not get many fans through the turnstiles in other nations.
That aspect will rightly be taken as an irrelevance by a man on the verge of fulfilling an ambition. Careers are something of a mystery in football and Zamora never accepted that he must be a lesser figure than people he knew as a youngster. "It's funny," the forward said, "because I grew up playing with John Terry, Ledley King, Paul Konchesky, Jlloyd Samuel and a lot of other good players [for Senrab, the east London boys team]. They have all gone on to play for England and, in my eyes, there was no major difference between us.
"I never reached the stage where I thought I was never going to make it – if you don't get picked, you don't get picked, and all you can do is to carry on with your normal game. Now an opportunity's come along I want to grab it with both hands."
Zamora seemed to have mastered the platitudes necessary for a career with England when, no doubt mindful of occasions such as the torpid and goalless draw with Algeria at the World Cup, but his sense of humour got the better of him just when he was arguing dutifully that there are no easy games. "Except for the Spanish," Zamora suddenly added.
A little merriness is his right as he anticipates being capped. The striker will be on the same field as the Hungary player Zoltan Gera, who is his team-mate at Fulham. Their work together was critical to the surge to that Europa League final, with Gera scoring twice and Zamora once, for example, when Juventus were eliminated 4-1 at Craven Cottage.
A 36-year-old Fabio Cannavaro was sent off that night and a galling World Cup followed, but getting the better of such renowned players still enhanced Zamora's confidence. The Englishman also appreciates the work ethic of a roaming colleague that let him to stick to straightforward attacking position at Fulham.
"He will certainly be a danger that England have to look out for," said Zamora of Gera's potential menace tonight. "He is a major threat, an intelligent player who can create and score goals." Most things, all the same, are markedly in Zamora's favour for the time being.
Last week, his girlfriend gave birth to twin daughters Gisele and Siena. "I'm a bit of a modern dad, changing nappies," he said. It only remains for Zamora to settle down to the dirty work of helping England recover a little credibility.