Birmingham-born Gabriel was a Premier League star with Aston Villa when he was still a teenager. This pacy striker scored once in nine appearances for Villa in 2005-06, a season in which he also had brief spells on loan at Watford and Sheffield Wednesday. Over the next three seasons he was virtually an ever-present in the Premier League and rattled in 31 goals.
For England he made his Under-21 debut under Peter Taylor, substituting for Wayne Routledge in a UEFA Championship qualifying play-off against Germany at Coventry City’s Ricoh Arena in October 2006. He went on to score four goals in 16 appearances for the Under-21s, starting three games in the EURO 2009 Finals in Sweden.
Fabio Capello gave Gabriel his chance with the senior team in a friendly against Germany in Berlin on 19 November 2008 and he was retained for the Seville friendly with Spain three months later. He started both games. The Villa hitman, who continued to show outstanding form for his club, had to wait a while for his next full cap, Capello choosing him to start England’s last FIFA World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Wembley in October 2009.
