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Saturday 30 May 1998 (Evening Edition)
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 News 2 
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SHEARER WARMS TO WORLD CUP BID
Skipper Says 'Judge Us In June'
UNLIKE the English supporters left cold in Casablanca on Friday night, following the dreadfully dire stalemate against Belgium, Alan Shearer, an observer in the stands as he sat out the game, immediately warmed to his task of leading Glenn Hoddle's side to glory in France 98. Accepting that England's performances of the past week had left much to be desired, the national captain remained dutifully upbeat about their chances of success in the next six weeks. One England goal in the three fixtures with Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Belgium - none of whom is expected to produce a major shock across the channel - was hardly world championship class, yet had done nothing to dampen Shearer's spirits.
The England skipper quickly pointed out that the tedium of these pre-tournament workouts will be a distant memory come kick-off on 15 June, when England open their campaign against Tunisia. By then, says Shearer, the lethargy so evident of late will have been replaced by an eager bunch desperate to rekindle the form of last year which enabled Hoddle's team to reach the finals automatically and simultaneously dumped the mighty Italy into the play-offs.
"The results and performances may not have quite been what we wanted," conceded Shearer. But it has still been a good few days and a worthwhile trip for the squad. Now we're all going home for a few days' rest and to spend some time with our families before joining up again and getting down to the real business. We're all focussed and prepared for the challenge ahead and I really believe we can do well in France.
"I feel we are in that top group of about eight to ten teams who seriously feel they can win the World Cup. Outside of Brazil, there are no clear favourites and England are definitely among those capable of going far. We have the players, the quality and spirit and although the one thing you can never count on getting is the luck needed to lift the trophy, if we do get our fair share, we have as good a chance as anybody.
"There is no doubt that the confidence is there, even if we haven't done as well as we wanted in the last seven days, both in terms of results and performances. But these friendlies, if you call them that, are not what really matters in the end. To be honest, as I've been saying all along, it is the result against Tunisia on 15 June that is the one that counts."
Shearer has a point. On the evidence of England's recent build-ups to major tournaments, two goalless draws and a 1-0 win is about par for the course, if not even above the trend. Before Euro 96, England beat China 3-1, but were then held 0-0 by a Hong Kong XI, which included ex-England player Mike Duxbury, while before Italia 90, Tunisia managed to hold Bobby Robson's boys to an embarrassing 1-1 draw. England, of course, went on to the last four in both tournaments, twice losing to the Germans in penalty shoot-outs.
Of course between now and Monday morning, the only thing on the minds of the majority in the England camp is whether they have done enough to secure a place among Hoddle's chosen 22, rather than heading back to England as one of the six heartbroken souls. "Yes, there are a few nerves among the players, but that is only to be expected at this stage of proceedings. There are going to be some very disappointed people, but that's football for you," Shearer said, safe in the knowledge he will sleep easy for the next few nights.
So can anybody fearing Paul Gascoigne and Sol Campbell might struggle to shake off the dead legs collected on Friday. Both expect to resume training when England meet up later in the week.
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SHOULD OWEN SLOW DOWN ?
By Philip Cornwall
In a dull tournament in Morocco, one moment in the match against the hosts stands out for England fans. Flicking the ball one way and then turning past the man at his back, Michael Owen opened up a lead of several yards in an instant and calmly scored his first goal for his country. Once he was in the clear, no-one was going to catch him, even though he took his time to clip the ball past the advancing keeper. It was a scene all too familiar to Premiership defences this season. Yet while Owen's pace is transparently one of his greatest assets, it does not always work in his favour. For the third time in his short England career, Owen had earlier demonstrated against Morocco that as well as being too quick for the opposition, he can sometimes be too quick for the linesman.
On his debut against Chile in February, again in Switzerland, and at 0-0 against Morocco, Owen ran on to through balls only for the assistant referee's flag to shoot up. Each time, he has been in the kind of position from which he scored on Wednesday night and each time the replays have shown that Owen had timed his run to perfection.
Undoubtedly, Owen has been fortunate with some offside calls this season; the flag staying down while replays showed him to be offside. This is how it is supposed to be unless the officials are certain that a player is offside, the attacker is supposed to get the benefit of the doubt. Yet Owen's speed is such that sometimes the officials cannot believe how far past the defence he has legitimately come, and up goes the flag. This hasn't often affected the outcome of matches for Liverpool, but bearing in mind how few chances you get at international level, such mistakes could be enormously costly. Against Chile, his luck was out at 0-0 in a 2-0 defeat, and against the Swiss the match ended in a draw.
You could argue that Owen must just trust that decisions will be correct, and that any errors should be in his favour. But it simply isn't happening. Far slower players are getting penalised incorrectly witness Les Ferdinand against Belgium and it seems that so far it is happening more frequently to Owen. So is there anything he can do to improve his chances?
Close to the penalty area, no you need every inch of daylight you can get. But when Owen is chasing passes against a defence holding closer to the half way line than the box, against all but the quickest he can beat them for pace with something to spare so he could try doing so. If he knows he has the beating of the centre backs, then a moment's hesitation could make the difference between a goal and another of those unjust flags. It's not something the more senior strikers can really try, but given the chances that Owen has been unfairly denied thus far, it might be something for England's fastest man to consider.
FOOTBALL365 NAMES HODDLE'S SQUAD
Have We Got It Right?
SO JUST who will miss out? From the 30 players Glenn Hoddle named for the games against Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Belgium, Jamie Redknapp and Ian Wright have withdrawn through injury. Six more players will fail to make the trip to France. With the benefit of our years of football experience, and a pin, we have chosen the 22 players we believe will make up England's final squad.
KEEPERS
Seaman, Walker, Martyn
Nigel booked his place against Belgium, and we think he and Tim Flowers were playing for one place. Why have Walker in the squad, yet not play him at all, unless he was going?
DEFENDERS
Neville (G), Neville (P), Southgate, Adams, Keown, Campbell, Le Saux
Bye, bye Rio Ferdinand gives the ball away too much and Andy Hinchcliffe hasn't done enough with it.
MIDFIELDERS
Beckham, Ince, Gascoigne, Batty, Butt, Scholes, Anderton, McManaman
Poor old Rob Lee will miss out again, as he did for Euro 96, while Paul Merson didn't do enough against Belgium to edge out McManaman or Anderton. Nicky Butt in for when Ince or Batty get suspended.
FORWARDS
Shearer, Sheringham, Owen, Dublin
More bad news for the Ferdinand family, with Les missing out thanks to that bad offside flag against Belgium and the missed penalty.
The players must know by now if we're right the rest of the world will find out at lunchtime on Monday.
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...AND THEN THERE WERE 22
The Unlucky Men Who Just Miss Out
MATTHEW LE TISSIER is hardly one of the outspoken men of English football. Yet this week he could no longer contain his anger, as he felt compelled to publicly express his hurt over being omitted from Glenn Hoddle's France 98 plans. The uncharacteristic attack on Hoddle only served to underline how serious a matter the game's greatest event is - even for stars so often accused of lacking motivation, unless there is a bankroll or ten on the table.
Here's a list of Englishmen who have in recent years gone from the role of hopeful to that of outcast in the final countdown.
1982
Ron Greenwood axed nine players: Gary Bailey (Manchester United), Steve Perryman (Tottenham), Alvin Martin, Alan Devonshire and Paul Goddard (all West Ham), Russell Osman (Ipswich), Dave Watson (Stoke), Tony Morley (Aston Villa) and Peter Barnes (Leeds).
1986
The rejects from Bobby Robson's Mexico squad were: Mark Wright (Southampton), Paul Bracewell (Everton), Trevor Francis (Sampdoria) and Dave Watson (Norwich).
1990
For Italia 90, Robson again axed four players from his warm-up squad. The men missing that time were: Dave Beasant (Chelsea), Tony Adams, David Rocastle and Alan Smith (all Arsenal). An injury to David Seaman gave Beasant a reprieve.
And here's a list of some of the France 98 foreigners pushed overboard when in sight of Gallic shores:
Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea, but not Italy)
Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea, but not Italy)
Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal, but not France)
John Harkes (DC, but not USA)
Alf Inge Haaland (Leeds, but not Norway)
Sasa Curcic (Crystal Palace, but not Yugoslavia)
Ally McCoist (Rangers, but not Scotland)
Igor Cvitanovic (Real Sociedad, but not Croatia)
Claudio Caniggia (Boca Juniors, but not Argentina)
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