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Soccer Canada Magazine Preview
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Glenn Hoddle was not the English FA's first choice when they were looking to replace Terry Venables as England coach -- but few would argue against him being the perfect choice now.
England's youngest ever coach -- he was only 38 when he started the job after Euro'96 -- Hoddle actually played in the same England team as Tony Adams, Gary Pallister and Stuart Pearce.
When England lost 1-0 at home to Italy in February it seemed that all hope of Glenn Hoddle's team qualifying directly for the World Cup finals had vanished.
The headlines were full of doom and gloom, England's chances were written off, Hoddle's tactics and team selection were heavily criticised and as far as most English pundits were concerned, Italy were certain to win the group, consigning England, at best to the play-offs.
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World Cup Record: Nine previous finals - 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970,
1982, 1986, 1990. Best Performance: Champions 1966. Three stars to watch: Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne, Rio Ferdinand. Hopes are justifiably high. The best England team in recent memory, including that of 1966 when they won the World Cup. And at last they are playing cultured football, thanks to coach Hoddle and his predecessor Venables. They still have problems in central defence against tricky and speedy strikers and will need to have some players, notably Shearer, fit to survive. Tip: Will make the quarter finals. Best international result: 13-0 v.s Nothern Ireland (1882) Worst international result: 1-7 v.s Hungary (1954) Most capped player all-time: Peter Shilton, 125 caps Area: 130 439 Sq. Km Population: 46 800 000 Capital: London Founded: 1863 Affiliation to Fifa: 1905 Number of clubs: 43 000 Number of registered players: 2 250 000 Number of registered referees: 31 500 Major stadiums: The Empire Stadium, Wembley London (80 000). National colors: white and dark blue |
Victory over England gave Italy maximum points from their opening three matches. England also had nine points from their opening wins over Moldova (3-0), Poland (2-1) and Georgia (2-0) -- but had played one more match.
England gained a psychological advantage over the Italians in June, when unusually in the middle of a qualifying series, England and Italy met in a friendly as part of the Tournoi de France. England won 2-0 in Nantes. The pressure was mounting on the Azzuri.
The turning point came on September 10 when Italy failed to break down a weak Georgian side in Tblisi and were held to a surprise 0-0 draw.
Later the same day England thumped hapless Moldova 4-0 at Wembley and went back to the top of the group. England had 18 points, Italy 17, and everything hinged on the match in Rome on October 11.
Apart from the slip to Italy, England had played well at home -- but done superbly on their travels, winning all three qualifiers, with a goal tally of 7-0. Now all they had to do was avoid defeat in Rome and a place in the finals was theirs.
But England had not won in Italy since 1961 and Italy had never lost a qualifier in Rome. The match ended 0-0, England were in the finals, Italy were in the play-offs.
Overall England's successful qualifying campaign continued the national team's improvement set in motion by Hoddle's predecessor Terry Venables.
Venables' side reached the semifinals of Euro'96 and at times played some of the best soccer by an English team in 30 years. More importantly perhaps -- in a sense which has greatly helped Hoddle -- the players have regained a pride and self-belief missing after failing to make the 1994 World Cup finals under Graham Taylor.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan