| By the time Bobby Robson had named his squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Chris Waddle had sealed his place on England's left flank. His in-out nature and permanently shattered demeanour had him singled out as the occasional target of barracking, but he was always able to silence the catcalls with something exquisite. Waddle had a real gift and slowly Robson - like his Tottenham manager David Pleat - was turning him into a team player without eclipsing the individual brilliance which Chris felt compelled to show. Waddle got his second England goal in a 1-0 win over the USSR in March 1986 and kept the challenge of Barnes - and the fast-emerging Steve Hodge - at enough of an arm's length to guarantee a place in the starting eleven selected by Robson for the opening World Cup game against Portugal in Monterrey. Waddle was awful. So were the whole England team as a mediocre Portugal won 1-0, but Chris did not adapt to the conditions or the needs of the team and, having been replaced by Peter Beardsley, received stern criticism from a worried media who weren't afraid to scaremonger. Waddle was ineffective again in the second game against Morocco, although he was allowed mitigation by virtue of Ray Wilkins' sending off, which reduced the impact of the flair players and necessitated their retreat into more defensive duties. Robson needed to freshen things up for the win-or-bust final match against Poland, and Waddle was ditched in favour of Hodge, who duly played a blinder as England ran out 3-0 winners and finally began to show their worth. Chris was a late substitute for Beardsley, winning his 19th cap, but his place in the pecking order was firmly on the decline. Hodge started the second round tie with Paraguay which England coasted 3-0, and stayed in the team for the quarter-final against Argentina. Robson took off Peter Reid and slung Waddle on to the right flank (the photo above is during the game) in the hope of sparking a rescue mission after Diego Maradona's combination of lawlessness and genius had given Argentina a 2-0 advantage but he achieved little, and his other contemporary, John Barnes, managed considerably more when he was finally let loose on the World Cup, destroying the Argentines and raining in the crosses, although England could only convert one of them and left the tournament. The World Cup had been anti-climactic and not entirely blessed with luck, but for Waddle it wasn't good. Of England's widemen, it was plausible to state that he had the least effective time of it, with Hodge and Barnes vindicated and Steven able to hold his head high to a larger extent. But this was the way enigmas worked, and England fans simply had to hope that the next time England needed a sparkle in a big tournament, Waddle was ready and raring to go. (Matthew Rudd) |