Soccer: Tears of joy for bad boy Smith

Twelve short days ago, Alan Smith sat slumped in the Leeds United dressing room shedding tears of despair.

The Rothwell-born striker had compounded the most bitter disappointment of his short career - and if he was expecting a sympathetic word from his manager, he did not get it.

As Leeds found themselves completely outplayed by Valencia in their Champions League semi-final in the Spaniards’ imposing Mestalla stadium, firebrand Smith lost his cool.

A vicious last minute challenge on Vicente saw the red card brandished in his face.

It earned Smith a three-match ban for next season’s European competition and brought swift words of condemnation from O’Leary.

‘‘It was stupid. He has to learn,’’ the Irishman said at the time.

Yesterday at Elland Road, Smith’s club suffered another setback.

Despite their routine victory over Leicester in their final Premiership outing, Liverpool’s 4-0 win at Charlton ensures the striker will be missing only UEFA Cup action at the start of next season.

And, just as in Valencia, tears are likely to be shed again - this time though, they should be of the joyous variety.

Despite his temper, the 20-year-old has found a fan in England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

And Leicester boss Peter Taylor passed on news of Smith’s double and excellent all-round display against the Foxes to the Swede last night, it almost certainly confirmed a place in the England squad to face Mexico at Pride Park.

Though another dismissal - on Under-21 duty - means the 18-goal striker is suspended for competitive action, Friday’s friendly offers Eriksson the opportunity to view Smith at a higher level.

And despite those harsh words in Valencia, O’Leary feels his man is ready.

‘‘He was already crying when I got to him in Valencia,’’ he said.

‘‘I just made him cry a bit more.

‘‘But Alan is the future of Leeds United and England.

‘‘I know Sven-Goran Eriksson loves him and Alan can handle the international scene. The bigger the stage, the more he enjoys it.’’

Smith opened the scoring when an attempted clearance from Callum Davidson rebounded off him at close range as the pair attempted to reach Harry Kewell’s 28th minute far post cross.

He then rounded off the victory by latching onto Mark Viduka’s lofted through ball and calmly slid the ball under Tim Flowers as the game entered injury time.

In the visitors’ dug-out, Eriksson’s assistant Taylor was suitably impressed.

‘‘He is a real handful,’’ admitted the Leicester boss.

‘‘He works incredibly hard and never lets defenders rest.

‘‘I never had the chance to work with him in the England Under-21 set-up because he had to withdraw through injury when I picked him.

‘‘But (current Under-21 coach) Sammy Lee rates him very highly.

‘‘Like a number of the Leeds players, he is very fit and hungry to keep improving.

They are going to be a very good team.’’

Taylor’s side were suffering their ninth defeat in 10 outings, a run which saw them finish 13th after topping the table in September.

They tried hard enough yesterday, equalising just three minutes after Smith’s opener when Rio Ferdinand got in the way of Junior Lewis’ header as it crashed off the bar and inadvertently bundled it into his own net.

But too often they relied on the industry of Robbie Savage in midfield and the loss of Muzzy Izzet through injury, coupled with Neil Lennon’s departure for Celtic, has proved too big a handicap to overcome.

Ian Harte’s second half free-kick put Leeds back in front and Smith’s late strike left Taylor to defend his combined coaching role once more.

‘‘I have taken quite a bit of stick over the England situation,’’ said the Filbert Street chief, whose current agreement expires after next month’s World Cup qualifier with Greece.

‘‘But I can’t blame it for what has happened at Leicester.

‘‘Since the Albania game I don’t think I have spoken to Sven more than a couple of times, so it is hardly responsible for the run of results we have suffered.

‘I firmly believe that it doesn’t get in the way of my club duties and I am the only person who can tell.’’

The one minor consolation for O’Leary is that his charges can now have a summer off without European qualification to worry about before the start of the Premier League season on August 18.

And the Irishman promises that the loss of Champions League revenue will not affect his recruiting programme.

‘‘We have to improve our squad because the top three all have better and bigger ones than us,’’ he said.

‘‘We probably have 15 players who could play against anyone on their day and we have to increase that figure.

‘‘My goal is to win the Premier League next season and maybe our chances have improved by not getting back in the Champions League.

‘‘But being contradictory, I would love to be back in it again.’’