| Friday 29 May 1998 |
Front Page 
|
|
IAN WRIGHT is out of the World Cup and has flown home to England, devastated at the final - and biggest - blow to his nightmare season. The England striker had to face up to the truth after a scan on the hamstring injury he picked up after only 26 minutes of Wednesday's game in Morocco showed he had damaged his left hamstring too badly for him to be fit in time for France. And as well as having to change his plans to cope with Wright's absence, manager Glenn Hoddle's been on the receiving end of an ear-bashing from England reject Matt Le Tissier. |
 |
|
But just as he looked a sure-fire member of England's final 22 after a brief but sharp performance at Wembley against Saudi Arabia last Saturday, he has hit rock bottom again. "It's been a terrible time for me," admitted Wright. "It should have been the best season of my career, winning the double and going to the World Cup, but I feel like I've been on the outside of it all. I wasn't there when it mattered. This is just the latest in a long line of set-backs." Before he saw the extent of the damage on the scan, Hoddle proclaimed: "There is no doubt that Wright would be shattered if his last chance of playing on football's greatest stage is cruelly wrestled from his grasp in such a manner." Nobody was arguing with that. But one England forward who does disagree with Hoddle's selections is Southampton's Matt Le Tissier, rejected by Hoddle despite scoring a hat trick for England B against Russia last month. He launched a bitter blast at England coach Glenn Hoddle for wrecking his World Cup hopes. Le Tissier has only made two starts for England in a career dating back to the Graham Taylor regime, and he was furious that Hoddle picked Darren Anderton and Jamie Redknapp ahead of him for his 30-man pre-World Cup squad. The 29-year-old Southampton star said: ''You have to ask why they were picked. Was it because they were coming back into form, or because of other factors? I have been on top form at the end of the season. You only have to look at my record, ten goals in ten games. "I wouldn't be so hurt if I had not been at my best recently but I have and I think I deserved a place. I felt that I had done enough to command a spot in the squad at the very least but I don't know what goes on in Glenn's head.'' Le Tissier believes his penalty-taking record alone would have been enough to clinch him a place in the squad, apart from his skill at set pieces, passing ability and scoring record. He said: ''You would have thought that they would have wanted someone who could take penalties out there. I have taken 46 in my career and I have only missed once, so you would have thought they would have wanted me for that.'' The Channel Islander was made a scapegoat for England's Wembley defeat by Italy in the qualifying competition, but although Hoddle supported him at the time, he has not picked him again. ''I have played really well at the end of the season and some others have hardly played at all,'' he said. ''I don't think I have been given a fair chance to prove myself because two starts is not enough. I know that I am good enough and he has given other players plenty of time and yet I don't get the same treatment.'' Le Tissier was so devastated at being left out of Hoddle's initial squad that he opted not to watch television coverage of England's match against Morocco on Wednesday night. ''I couldn't sit there and watch it all, because at the moment it really hurts to watch them play,'' he said. Le Tissier has not written of his international career, but believes that his chances of appearing in a World Cup in the future are slim. ''I will be 33 then and it is really unlikely, but I still want to play for England and I will be disappointed if I don't get another chance.'' But it's unlikely he will now for as long as Hoddle remains in charge. After today, until the end of the World Cup, the Features section will be concentrating on France 98. Two more teams are profiled today, including England's first-round opponents Romania, and Jurgen Klinsmann is interviewed. The regular features and interviews will return in mid-July. |
|
top 
|
The name and overall content are © 1998 Direct Network Publishing plc, and all rights are reserved.
Some of the news content is © 1998 Press Association Ltd, and all rights are reserved.
Pictures are © 1998 Allsport Photographic plc, and all rights are reserved.
Please see Help page for conditions of use.