Saha looks capable of seizing his last big chance

For a player synonymous with injury, Louis Saha seemed indestructible a year ago when he drove his Ferrari 458 Italia into a fence post off a busy road in Cheshire. The French forward walked away unscathed, but he wouldn't have survived had the car been a right-hand-drive model, according to police.

The anniversary of his brush with death provides a perfect moment for reflection for Saha, whose stop-start career appears transformed by a surprise move at the end of last month's transfer window to Tottenham Hotspur.

At the time of the accident 12 months ago, Saha (pictured) was preparing for Everton's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Reading. Now, he's getting ready for Spurs' trip to non-league Stevenage at the same stage of the famous competition, buoyed with confidence from his first two goals for the club in the Premier League last weekend.

Funnily enough, almost destroying his GBP170,000 (HK$2.1 million) Ferrari hasn't put him off driving. 'When I got the call [to join Spurs], I was just like: 'where's my car?'' he said. 'It was as simple as that because I got great excitement from that move. As a kid, you always dreamed of playing fantasy football, attacking football and you've seen that here.'

His first-half brace in his starting debut for Tottenham against Newcastle United saw the 33-year-old match his goal-scoring tally in the first 20 games of the season for Everton. Handing Saha the No15 shirt last worn by Peter Crouch, manager Harry Redknapp once again showed an uncanny knack for shuffling his deck of strikers.

Saha was preferred to Spurs' top scorer Jermain Defoe and formed an instant combination with Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor, who scored a goal and provided four assists in the stunning 5-0 home victory.