World Cup. Group F

 

Group F. England, Holland, Republic of Ireland, Egypt

England

Head coach: Bobby Robson

No.	Pos.	Player		Date of birth (age)			Caps	Club
1	GK	Peter Shilton		18 September 1949 (aged 40)			118	Derby County
2	DF	Gary Stevens		27 March 1963 (aged 27)			39	Rangers
3	DF	Stuart Pearce		24 April 1962 (aged 28)			24	Nottingham Forest
4	MF	Neil Webb		30 July 1963 (aged 26)			19	Manchester United
5	DF	Des Walker		26 November 1965 (aged 24)			18	Nottingham Forest
6	DF	Terry Butcher		28 December 1958 (aged 31)			72	Rangers
7	MF	Bryan Robson (c)		11 January 1957 (aged 33)			85	Manchester United
8	MF	Chris Waddle		14 December 1960 (aged 29)			52	Marseille
9	FW	Peter Beardsley		18 January 1961 (aged 29)			40	Liverpool
10	FW	Gary Lineker		30 November 1960 (aged 29)			51	Tottenham Hotspur
11	MF	John Barnes		7 November 1963 (aged 26)			53	Liverpool
12	DF	Paul Parker		4 April 1964 (aged 26)			5	Queens Park Rangers
13	GK	Chris Woods		14 November 1959 (aged 30)			16	Rangers
14	DF	Mark Wright		1 August 1963 (aged 26)			24	Derby County
15	DF	Tony Dorigo		31 December 1965 (aged 24)			3	Chelsea
16	MF	Steve McMahon		20 August 1961 (aged 28)			12	Liverpool
17	MF	David Platt		10 June 1966 (aged 23)			5	Aston Villa
18	MF	Steve Hodge		25 October 1962 (aged 27)			22	Nottingham Forest
19	MF	Paul Gascoigne		27 May 1967 (aged 23)			11	Tottenham Hotspur
20	MF	Trevor Steven		21 September 1963 (aged 26)			26	Rangers
21	FW	Steve Bull		28 March 1965 (aged 25)			7	Wolverhampton Wanderers
22	GK	David Seaman*		19 September 1963 (aged 26)			3	Queens Park Rangers
No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)		Caps	Club
22	GK	Dave Beasant	20 March 1959 (aged 31)		2	Chelsea

 * David Seaman was originally selected, but after the first game in Italy, he had to pull out of the squad due to a thumb injury and was replaced by Dave Beasant.

Group F deserved to be called 'the group of death' not only because this was not a group with one big favourite, but two, but largely because of the specifics of the participants. England could be seen as the best candidate for top place largely because of the internal frictions in the Dutch team. Bobby Robson was not only coach with massive reputation, but also considered the best man for the job in England and he had all best players at his disposal. The late injury of David Seaman was not a problem – not only because England used the new regulation of FIFA permitting to replace injured player after the team selections were officially submitted, but largely because Seaman was a mere third choice and Shilton, nearing his 41^st birthday, was undisputed starter. High expectations in England, but outside it... the English national team lost edge long ago and was not seen as a prime candidate for the title. Opinions were cautious and skeptical and Robson somewhat concurred with his statement that there was never before so many equal teams at the finals and anybody could win, hard to predict.

Netherlands

Head coach: Leo Beenhakker

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Hans van Breukelen	4 October 1956 (aged 33)	52	PSV
2	DF	Berry van Aerle	8 December 1962 (aged 27)	22	PSV
3	MF	Frank Rijkaard	30 September 1962 (aged 27)	42	Milan
4	DF	Ronald Koeman	21 March 1963 (aged 27)	43	Barcelona
5	DF	Adri van Tiggelen	16 June 1957 (aged 32)	40	Anderlecht
6	MF	Jan Wouters	17 July 1960 (aged 29)	30	Ajax
7	MF	Erwin Koeman	20 September 1961 (aged 28)	23	Mechelen
8	MF	Gerald Vanenburg	5 March 1964 (aged 26)	36	PSV
9	FW	Marco van Basten	31 October 1964 (aged 25)	35	Milan
10	MF	Ruud Gullit (c)	1 September 1962 (aged 27)	44	Milan
11	MF	Richard Witschge	20 September 1969 (aged 20)	4	Ajax
12	FW	Wim Kieft	12 November 1962 (aged 27)	27	PSV
13	DF	Graeme Rutjes	26 March 1960 (aged 30)	7	Mechelen
14	FW	John van 't Schip	30 November 1963 (aged 26)	22	Ajax
15	FW	Bryan Roy	12 February 1970 (aged 20)	2	Ajax
16	GK	Joop Hiele	25 December 1958 (aged 31)	6	Feyenoord
17	FW	Hans Gillhaus	5 November 1963 (aged 26)	2	Aberdeen
18	DF	Henk Fraser	7 July 1966 (aged 23)	2	Roda JC
19	FW	John van Loen	4 February 1965 (aged 25)	6	Roda JC
20	MF	Aron Winter	1 March 1967 (aged 23)	11	Ajax
21	DF	Danny Blind	1 August 1961 (aged 28)	5	Ajax
22	GK	Stanley Menzo	15 October 1963 (aged 26)	1	Ajax

The reasons the reigning European champions were somewhat less likely to top the group were the following: yes, Holland had had the best core of mega-stars among all finalists (Gullit-vanBasten-Rijkard-Ronald Koeman), surrounded by fantasticly talented teammates, but... on one hand, the internal tremors and scandals. The coach was replaced in the last minute, but Beenhakker was not ready-made solution – Gullit had problem with him, which poisoned the atmosphere. Himself, Gullit was not at its best and the same could be said for the other mega-stars, coming tired from grueling Italian and Spanish championships and European tournaments. The opponents in the group were another challenge – the Dutch had traditional respect for British football, seeing themselves as inferior, which made playing against British team always problematic and this time they had not one, but two British opponents. Nobody seriously thought the Dutch could be knocked down in the first round of the finals, but most likely they would finish second and with lots of sweat. However, the ironic words of Cruijff eventually proved prophetic – he said something like 'they wriggle sensing disastrous failure', which at first looked like his usual jab at the Dutch Federation, but as the championship progressed...

Republic of Ireland

Head coach:  Jack Charlton

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Pat Bonner	24 May 1960 (aged 30)	38	Celtic
2	DF	Chris Morris	24 December 1963 (aged 26)	21	Celtic
3	DF	Steve Staunton	19 January 1969 (aged 21)	13	Liverpool
4	DF	Mick McCarthy (c)	7 February 1959 (aged 31)	42	Millwall
5	DF	Kevin Moran	29 April 1956 (aged 34)	55	Blackburn Rovers
6	MF	Ronnie Whelan	25 September 1961 (aged 28)	38	Liverpool
7	DF	Paul McGrath	4 December 1959 (aged 30)	36	Aston Villa
8	MF	Ray Houghton	9 January 1962 (aged 28)	29	Liverpool
9	FW	John Aldridge	18 September 1958 (aged 31)	30	Real Sociedad
10	FW	Tony Cascarino	1 September 1962 (aged 27)	21	Aston Villa
11	MF	Kevin Sheedy	21 October 1959 (aged 30)	28	Everton
12	DF	David O'Leary	2 May 1958 (aged 32)	51	Arsenal
13	MF	Andy Townsend	23 July 1963 (aged 26)	12	Norwich City
14	DF	Chris Hughton	11 December 1958 (aged 31)	50	Tottenham Hotspur
15	FW	Bernie Slaven	13 November 1960 (aged 29)	4	Middlesbrough
16	MF	John Sheridan	1 October 1964 (aged 25)	8	Sheffield Wednesday
17	FW	Niall Quinn*	6 October 1966 (aged 23)	15	Manchester City
18	FW	Frank Stapleton	10 July 1956 (aged 33)	71	Blackburn Rovers
19	FW	David Kelly	25 November 1965 (aged 24)	6	Leicester City
20	FW	John Byrne	1 February 1961 (aged 29)	19	Le Havre
21	MF	Alan McLoughlin	20 April 1967 (aged 23)	1	Swindon Town
22	GK	Gerry Peyton	20 May 1956 (aged 34)	28	Bournemouth

 * Niall Quinn was registered as Ireland's third goalkeeper

A team admired not for skills, but for spirit and after their brave performance at the 1988 European finals, the team was on a roll. It was expected not to disappoint, but to finish third anyway. Jack Charlton repeatedly said that motivation was not his concern – the Irish always gave their best and having England to play against was enough motivation. Skills were also not a concern – Charlton knew very well that he had a team with limited abilities and did not even thing of creating some fancy schemes. He only wanted the boys to do what they could and to press their opponents away from the Irish net. Simple concept, but realistic one. As a curious note, the Irish team was the only one at the finals with 2 goalkeepers – normally, every coach got the fear of some terrible injuries and took three keepers to the finals, but the new FIFA rule permitted late changes in the team lists, so why still keeping three keepers? Colombia listed just 2 keepers, but Charlton went outdid them by listing striker Niall Quinn as eventual third goalie. And why not? He had Irish at his hand – not particularly skillful players, but spirited enough to play at any position.

Egypt

Head coach: Mahmoud Al-Gohari

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	GK	Ahmed Shobair	28 September 1960 (aged 29)	52	Al Ahly
2	DF	Ibrahim Hassan	10 August 1966 (aged 23)	45	Al Ahly
3	DF	Rabie Yassin	7 September 1960 (aged 29)	81	Al Ahly
4	DF	Hany Ramzy	10 March 1969 (aged 21)	28	Al Ahly
5	DF	Hesham Yakan	10 August 1962 (aged 27)	35	Zamalek
6	DF	Ashraf Kasem	25 July 1966 (aged 23)	38	Zamalek
7	MF	Ismail Youssef	28 June 1964 (aged 25)	29	Zamalek
8	MF	Magdi Abdelghani	27 July 1959 (aged 30)	N/A	Beira-Mar
9	FW	Hossam Hassan	10 August 1966 (aged 23)	49	Al Ahly
10	MF	Gamal Abdel-Hamid (c)	24 November 1957 (aged 32)	76	Zamalek
11	MF	Tarek Soliman	24 January 1962 (aged 28)	N/A	Al-Masry
12	MF	Taher Abouzeid	10 April 1962 (aged 28)	57	Al Ahly
13	DF	Ahmed Ramzy	25 October 1965 (aged 24)	27	Zamalek
14	MF	Alaa Maihoub	19 January 1963 (aged 27)	N/A	Al Ahly
15	MF	Saber Eid	1 May 1959 (aged 31)	N/A	Ghazl El-Mehalla
16	MF	Magdy Tolba	24 February 1964 (aged 26)	N/A	PAOK
17	FW	Ayman Shawky	9 December 1962 (aged 27)	N/A	Al Ahly
18	MF	Osama Orabi	22 January 1962 (aged 28)	N/A	Al Ahly
19	FW	Adel Abdel Rahman	11 December 1967 (aged 22)	N/A	Al Ahly
20	FW	Ahmed El-Kass	8 July 1965 (aged 24)	42	El-Olympi Alexandria
21	GK	Ayman Taher	7 January 1966 (aged 24)	N/A	Zamalek
22	GK	Thabet El-Batal	16 September 1953 (aged 36)	87	Al Ahly

The outsiders took the World Cup so seriously, they almost missed it. Long training camps were nothing new when World Cup preparations went and national teams often took precedence over clubs and even domestic schedules, but Egypt outdid everything done to this time: in the interest of the national team the domestic championship was canceled and Egypt decided to withdraw from the African championship finals, taking place in the spring before the World Cup. Algeria, hosting the African finas, took issue with the Egyptian idea and complained to FIFA. FIFA ruled out that if Egypt did not appear at the African finals, they will be expelled from the World Cup finals. Egypt sent its second team to Algeria and continued to prepare its bests for the World Cup. From aside, Egypt was unknown team with unknown coach, but African football vastly developed during the 1980s, so they were not taken as hopeless punchbag for the others – it was considered that team Egypt will put some fight and go home after a brave, but losing first round.