Parlour: ‘World Cup Dream Is Gone'
Arsenal: The Stats
Shearer Sorry For Foul On Adams
Newcastle: The Stats
Wenger: 'Overmars Was The Key'
FA Cup: A Fan's Eye View
Brave Hearts
So Proud
FA Trophy Final
Gazza Still On Trial
McCann blasts Jansen
Everton
Go For
Sturridge
Italian Season Ends In Riots
Bayern, Ajax and Genk Win Cup Finals
Batistuta
To Stay At
Fiorentina
Jamaica and USA's Friendly Failures
The Knowledge
Today's Trivia
Bollocks!
Today's TV
& Radio
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Monday 18 May 1998
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 News 1 
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LIFE'S A BEACH FOR GUNNERS HERO
World Cup Reject Parlour
Has Already Booked His Hols
ARSENAL Cup Final hero Ray Parlour has resigned himself to watching the World Cup from the comfort of a deckchair, knowing that even the Man of the Match performance which destroyed Newcastle on Saturday won't persuade Glenn Hoddle to take him to France.
''It's too late for me with England, the midfielder admitted. I know that and I've already booked my holiday this summer. I wasn't in the 30 players picked for the game against Saudi Arabia next Saturday and if you can't make that list then you've got no more hope left. It's gone. So what can I do? If Glenn Hoddle doesn't fancy me, that's it isn't it? But it honestly doesn't worry me. I wasn't even sure about my place in the Arsenal team at the start of the season, so being tipped for England and then getting in two squads are massive bonuses for me.''
A hamstring injury forced Parlour to pull out of the trip to Switzerland in March when his England debut looked a certainty and, last month, he sat on the bench throughout the game against Portugal at Wembley. But, at 25, he knows there is still time for him to make the international grade, having finally put a bad-boy reputation behind him.
''My wild days were over a long time ago, he insisted. I looked at myself and just decided to work harder and try to improve as much as I could. I think the people at Arsenal always knew I had the ability, but they are more behind me now because I am playing with a lot more confidence in myself. I've set myself the aim to become as good as Dennis Bergkamp. I probably never will be because what he can do is unbelievable, but you've got to try.
The England thing has gone, but I can live without it. Maybe there will be another chance. You always hope, but it's not going to happen for me right now. I'm sure of that.''
Nine of Arsenal's Double-winning heroes will go from yesterday's victory parade through the streets of north London straight into preparation for France 98, and at least one cannot believe Parlour won't be going too.
David Seaman, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Ian Wright will all report for England duty this week, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars are going Dutch and Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka and Emmanuel Petit will join up with France for a tournament in Morocco where coach Aime Jacquet will decide on his final 22.
Midfield dynamo Vieira admitted: ''I find it very hard to understand why Ray is not even in the last 30 for England. He's a great player. He had a fantastic game at Wembley and he has been fantastic all season. But if one manager doesn't like what you do, then it is very difficult. I know how he must feel because when I was at AC Milan the manager did not think very highly of me and I hardly played in the team. But I have come to Arsenal and had a wonderful two years.
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ARSENAL: THE STATS
 NICOLAS ANELKA may have sealed Arsenal's FA Cup victory with a beautifully-taken goal, but the man who won the game with his distribution was none other than Tony Adams, proving that jibes about his limited footballing skills are decidedly old hat.
Adams topped the distribution charts in Saturday's showpiece - of 37 passes attempted, 34 reached their intended target, giving him a 92% success rate. In comparison, Anelka's attempts at finding a member of his own team were of schoolboy standard, only eight of his 18 passes finding the red of Arsenal. The rest found nothing but black and white. Only David Platt had a worse record. The only chart the young Frenchman topped was the offside league, getting flagged five times the only Arsenal player to be caught. Adams is rarely feared for his creativity, getting more publicity for his crunching tackles than his cross-field passes, but on Saturday he put in only one tackle. But the figures show that he made 20 clearances, blocks and interceptions again the highest in the Arsenal line-up. Two men were top of the Gunners' tackling chart, Nigel Winterburn and Ray Parlour. The latter justified his Man of the Match accolade with seven tackles, adding steel to a game that already included 12 dribbles and runs that ended in failure just twice. This record compares favourably with his more lauded teammate Marc Overmars. The Dutchman was foiled seven times in his runs and dribbles, only succeeding to beat his man on four occasions. Even Winterburn proved to be more effective with the ball at his feet! Visit the Football365 website for all the Arsenal stats.
'ARSENE WHO?' 365' S
WENGER FACTFILE
1949 Born Strasbourg, October 22.
1969 Starts his amateur playing career as a defender with Mutzig, a French Third Division outfit.
1974 Graduates with a degree in economics from Strasbourg University.
1978 Makes professional debut, against Monaco.
1979 Part of the Strasbourg squad that wins the French title, but makes only three appearances.
1981 Earns his manager's diploma and is put in charge of Strasbourg's youth team.
1983 Becomes assistant coach with Cannes.
1984 Named coach of Nancy, and makes bad start as the club are relegated.
1987 Appointed Monaco coach.
1988 Wins French Championship and Manager of the Year award.
1989 Monaco finish second in League, reach the European Cup quarter-finals and French Cup Final.
1990 Monaco come third in League and reach European Cup semis.
1991 Monaco win the French Cup and are Championship runners-up.
1992 Another second-place finish to go with a place in the unplayed French Cup final and defeat by Werder Bremen in Cup-Winners'Cup final.
1994 Receives Best Manager accolade because of his record over previous six years, and is offered the French national team and Bayern Munich jobs. Rejects both because of his club commitments, but is sacked within weeks when Monaco finish ninth in the French League (even though they reach the Champions League semis).
1995 Takes charge at Japanese outfit Grampus Eight on a reported salary of £700,000, lifting them from a bottom three place to a runners-up spot and victory in the Emperor's Cup. Named Manager of Year.
1996 Wins the Super Cup and takes Grampus Eight to second place in J League. Named Arsenal manager on September 28.
1997 Leads Arsenal to third place in Premiership and a UEFA Cup place.
1998 Wins Premier League with new club record of 10 consecutive wins. Arsenal equal Manchester United's record of two League and Cup doubles when they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the FA Cup Final.
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HOW THE CUP
WAS WON
THE ten key moments from Saturday's FA Cup Final:
20 minutes Nicolas Anelka misses a sitter for Arsenal when he heads over from six yards from Ray Parlour's cross after the first decent move of the match involving Patrick Vieira, Lee Dixon and Parlour.
23 mins Marc Overmars makes it 1-0 with a left foot shot through the advancing Shay Given's legs after beating full-back Alessandro Pistone to Emmanuel Petit's perfectly-weighted ball.
42 mins Arsenal snap out of a quiet spell as the outstanding Parlour feeds Chris Wreh, who shoots over the top from the edge of the box.
45 mins Newcastle striker Alan Shearer is booked for a foul on his England colleague Tony Adams.
48 mins The second half opens with a flurry of yellow cards - Newcastle's Warren Barton is booked for a foul on Petit, followed by Nigel Winterburn on Shearer after 51 mins, Nikos Dabizas on 53 for a foul on Parlour and Steve Howey on Parlour after 70 mins.
63 mins The unmarked Dabizas pings a header off the top of the crossbar from a free-kick by Newcastle captain Rob Lee.
65 mins Shearer crashes a left-footed shot against the post with David Seaman beaten after Martin Keown treads on the ball to give the England skipper his best chance so far.
69 mins Anelka seals The Double as he beats the off-side trap to take Parlour's through ball into the area and pass Given with a right-footed cross shot.
84 mins Newcastle's last chance to set up a grandstand finish goes up in smoke. The ball pinballs around in the area and lands at Shearer's feet eight yards out but, just as he is about to pull the trigger, Winterburn slides in and knocks the ball away for a corner.
87 mins Man of the Match Parlour shows he's still got plenty left in the tank, setting off on another solo raid that ends with a shot which shaves Given's left-hand post.
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