ONE Night in Turin made Paul Gascoigne a national treasure. One night at Wembley made it all possible.
Thirty years on from Gazza’s World Cup semi-final tears it is easy to forget it was touch and go whether he would even make Bobby Robson’s Italia 90 squad.
Gascoigne earned his spot at Italia 90 with a scintillating performance for EnglandCredit: PA:Empics Sport
It all came down to one match. England-Czechoslovakia on April 25, 1990.
The match when a sceptical Robson threw down the gauntlet and Gazza produced a career-changing performance.
Few England selection debates have raged as fiercely as that over Gascoigne.
When England went to Euro 88 as one of the favourites, few were seriously calling for the Under-21 star to be promoted.
But when the Three Lions lost all three group games in West Germany, the Gazza bandwagon really began to roll.
A British record £2.2million move from Newcastle to Tottenham was followed by a call-up for England’s friendly against Denmark in September, 1988.
But under-fire Robson wasn’t about to risk his job on a Geordie lad with a taste for Mars bars and junk food and a tendency for on and off-field indiscipline.
Gazza got just eight minutes and Robson said: “No manager knows more about young players than I do.
“Let me tell you that England’s immediate future can’t yet be in the hands of Paul Gascoigne.”
By the time England faced Albania in a World Cup qualifier the following April, Robson conceded ‘he could be the kind of player you build a side around’.
If he was Irish he’d be going to Italy without a doubt.”
Jack Charlton
But he added: “It’s no good having all the talent and being as daft as a brush.”
Sub Gazza responded with a thrilling 24-minute cameo, scoring a superb solo goal to round off a 5-0 win.
Yet Robson cautioned: “I enjoyed some of his dribbles. It was like watching George Best but you need two balls — one for him and another for the rest of us.”
He got his first start against Chile in May but over the next 11 months was granted only 44 minutes of senior action.
Despite some dazzling B international performances, the Three Lions manager’s doubts were fuelled by off-field scrapes and on-field incidents including a broken arm suffered in January 1990, when he lashed out at Coventry’s Lloyd McGrath.
Robson said: “I’m not sure I can trust him yet.
“I’m not saying he has no brains, but when I first picked him and asked him to play outside right he played outside left.”
Spurs boss Terry Venables hit back: “I see more of Gascoigne than anyone else and I trust him implicitly.
“Bobby must have his reasons for saying these things but I just don’t understand it.”
Republic of Ireland boss Jack Charlton, the man who gave Gazza his Newcastle debut, waded in: “He can be the best midfielder in the world. If he was Irish he’d be going to Italy without a doubt.”
Gazza scored one and helped set up another three to earn his place in England’s squad
Gazza become a national hero as England later went on to reach the semi-finals in the World CupCredit: Rex Features
LAST SPOT ON THE PLANE
Time was running out. The first full international of 1990 was not until March and Gazza got only 12 minutes in a 1-0 win over Brazil in which rival David Platt effectively booked his spot by excelling on his first start.
So it would all come down to the Czech game.
Confirming Gazza would start, Robson warned: “My mind’s pretty well made up. Some players should be trying to book their ticket to Italy. All eyes will be on Gascoigne.
“He thinks he should have been in the side before now. I think he’s ready now. He has matured but I want him to go for the possible, not the impossible.”
Only 21,342 turned out for Gazza’s audition and it did not start well as he gifted the ball to Czech captain Ivan Hasek and fouled him trying to win it back.
Robson winced as the midfielder patted French ref Michel Girand on the head.
The England manager revealed after the game: “We told him at half-time not to touch the referee! In a World Cup that could have caused a problem.
“It’s hard to stop him. He thinks everybody loves him and he loves everybody.”
The Czechs scored early, but Gazza soon began to boss the game.
After 17 minutes he hit a 25-yard pass with the outside of his boot into the path of Steve Bull, who lashed it home.
Gazza’s corner then led to Stuart Pearce making it 2-1 six minutes later.
Ten minutes into the second half he beat two men and crossed for Bull to head his second — clinching the striker’s own spot in the Italia 90 squad. The Czechs pulled one back but Gazza rounded off the win by bursting forward to crash home a left-foot shot.
TV cameras panned to Robson, whose almost reluctant smile said it all.
The next day, he spent much of his hour-long press debrief discussing Gazza.
Robson took a pop at his critics, saying: “The back-stabbers will say, ‘I told you so’. I’ve one word for them… nonsense!”
Gazza’s experience at Italia 90 would go down in historyCredit: PA:Empics Sport
But clearly his mind was made up.
He said: “You have to give the boy his due. There are few players in the world who could play as well as he did against a decent class of opposition. I don’t know what the limit is for him.”
Suddenly the question was not just whether Gazza would be in the squad.
Robson admitted: “What I have to decide is Gascoigne being in the team. We have to consider that now.”
After two years of keeping his cards close to his chest, Robson was finally ready to play his joker.
Alex Ferguson talks about trying to sign Paul Gascoigne for Man Utd
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
