David SEAMAN

David Seaman first appeared in an England squad back in 1987 but it would take another six years and a strong streak of patience before he became England's number one goalkeeper. Meticulously organised and very agile, Seaman learnt the international routine from Peter Shilton for three years after his first call-up, while plying an honest trade for Queens Park Rangers. Bobby Robson gave him his debut in November 1988 in a dire friendly against Saudi Arabia and then put him back behind Shilton and Chris Woods in the custodian's pecking order; he next appeared as a sub for Shilton during a friendly against Denmark, though this was more designed to make Shilton the centre of attention and the recipient of a standing ovation as he left the field, as he had just broken the caps record with his 109th appearance.

Seaman joined Arsenal and upped the stakes in the summer of 1990 while also lining up with Shilton and Woods for the official squad photo for the 1990 World Cup; however, a broken finger robbed him of his place on the plane and Dave Beasant was called up. Shilton's retirement after England's heroics to the semi-finals meant that Seaman had an opportunity to push Woods, who himself had been waiting for five years to become the first choice keeper. Graham Taylor, the new coach, chose Woods for the first three games of his reign but then picked Seaman for the next three, including qualifiers for the 1992 European Championships against the Republic of Ireland (a 1-1 draw, the photo above is during the game) and Turkey (a 1-0 win) which gave the Arsenal goalkeeper his first taste of the competitive game. Taylor gave the gloves back to Woods for eight of the next nine matches as England cemented their place in the finals, but David stayed in touch, winning his eighth cap in a 2-2 draw against Czechoslovakia in Prague.

Taylor had Woods and Seaman now set in stone for the final squad for Sweden, and the debut of Nigel Martyn seemed to have decided who the new third choice keeper would be. Seaman duly sat on the bench without playing as England exited the tournament after a disappointing group campaign but Woods continued in goal afterwards. David dutifully turned up for the first eight squads after the finals ended, including seven qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup, but didn't get a chance. Taylor then named Martyn and Tim Flowers as the other keepers in his squad for a short tour of the USA which, despite his omission, would change Seaman's international destiny. (Matthew Rudd)

Reassured that he was still second in the pecking order and was just being rested, Seaman went on holiday while England crossed the Atlantic and, by the time they arrived home, he was England's top keeper. Woods' calamitous display in a 2-0 humiliation by the USA in Boston had angered Taylor so much he refused to pick him again, so Martyn and Flowers shared the caps in the remaining games of the tour and Seaman was given the job when the World Cup qualifiers resumed in September 1993. He was faultless against Poland at Wembley as England won 3-0 but the real test was next, a trip to Rotterdam where a win over Holland was essential. The controversial incident between David Platt and Ronald Koeman affected David, in that Koeman should not have been on the pitch to take the free kick which was awarded to Holland just minutes after he had upended Platt as he hared in on goal. Koeman took the free kick and hit the wall but the referee, already not England's greatest pal, ordered a retake. The second attempt was flicked and chipped superbly over the wall and away from Seaman's despairing grasp and Holland were ahead.

Dennis Bergkamp thumped one past David later and the Taylor reign was all but over. Seaman then had the ignominy of picking the ball out his net after just seven seconds of the, barring miracles, meaningless final qualifier against San Marino before watching his team-mates win 7-1, and Terry Venables arrived to clear up the debris and start afresh. Venables made one minor change to the goalkeeping pecking order, but it didn't affect Seaman. Flowers overhauled Martyn as the first choice deputy and won a cap in 1994, but David was in place, sound, secure and with the full confidence of the defenders ahead of him. England were hosting the next major tournament - the 1996 European Championships - so Seaman could settle down into a long, unpressured spell of international football and at last knew that, form permitting, he would get a taste of the big stage after three consecutive disappointments involving injury, exclusion and lack of qualification. Venables rested David for the 1995 summer tournament and gave Flowers some caps but otherwise Seaman was the main man, getting to 24 caps by the time the tournament was due to start. (Matthew Rudd)

Switzerland were England's opening opponents at Wembley, and Seaman had a quiet time of it until he had to pick a late penalty out of the net after Stuart Pearce had handballed in the box. The 1-1 draw was followed by a fine game against Scotland which made David into a hero for the first time in his England career. He had already made one stunning save from Gordon Durie by the time England, 1-0 up, conceded a penalty when Tony Adams fouled Durie. Gary McAllister blasted it down the middle and Seaman, although going down, flung up a hand and fisted the ball over the bar. Immediately Paul Gascoigne scored England's glorious second and David found himself on the receiving end of national adulation. He watched in admiration as England destroyed Holland 4-1, with Seaman only conceding from a Patrick Kluivert goal late on when the game was well won.

Spain outplayed England in the quarter-finals and David was beaten for a goal from Narvaez Kiko which was mistakenly called offside, but when 120 minutes of stalemate was completed, Seaman watched one penalty hit his crossbar before he pushed away another from Miguel Angel Nadal (see photo above) and took England into the semi-finals against Germany. David again played well, having little chance with Stefan Kuntz's goal which made the score 1-1, but after another unbroken deadlock, and with typical efficiency, the German penalties all avoided Seaman's grasp while Gareth Southgate crucially missed his. England were out, but David was a real hero, even to the extent of a spontaneous standing ovation on Centre Court at Wimbledon just days later which disturbed the concentration of Pete Sampras in the process.

Glenn Hoddle took over from Venables and Seaman found himself at the head of a five-pronged option of goalkeeping, with Flowers and Martyn being joined by Ian Walker and David James. But David was still the first choice by some distance. He was beaten by a deflection off Sol Campbell as Gianfranco Zola struck the only goal at Wembley in a crucial qualifier for the 1998 World Cup, but otherwise he had a straightforward time of it as England recovered from that setback to reach the finals, and was given the bonus of captaining his country for the first time in the absence of Shearer, Adams and Ince as England beat Moldova 4-0 at Wembley in the penultimate qualifier. Seaman won his 40th cap in May 1998 against Saudi Arabaia and was by now seen as an irreplaceable figure in the England team. (Matthew Rudd)

David Seaman had a quiet time as England beat Tunisia 2-0 in the opening game in Marseille; he had a worse time of it as a late Dan Petrescu shot fooled him by going through the challenging Graeme Le Saux's legs to give Romania a 2-1 win. England still went through to the second round after a win over Colombia in which Seaman was a virtual spectator, and the prospect of Argentina made every England fan again grateful for the Arsenal keeper. He was beaten by an early Gabriel Batistuta penalty and a smart set-piece from Zavier Janetti in a stunning first half which ended 2-2, and then commanded his overstretched defence superbly after David Beckham's sending off to get as far as penalties. Seaman drew first blood, saving superbly from Hernan Crespo, but England duly missed two more and were ejected from the tournament in such cruel circumstances once again.

Hoddle exited in farcical circumstances six months later but his replacement Kevin Keegan maintained the continuity, and Seaman won his 50th cap - only the fourth England goalkeeper to do so - in a 1-1 friendly draw against Hungary, in the midst of a declining campaign to reach the 2000 European Championships. England recovered, though David suffered an injury which ruled him out of two qualifiers and gave Martyn his moment, and reached the finals via a Jekyll-and-Hyde aggregate win over Scotland in the play-off (the photo above shows Seaman acknowledging the England fans prior to the 2-0 first leg victory). David played in two of the four warm-up games of 2000 as Keegan gave chances to understudies Martyn and Richard Wright (Flowers and Walker were now off the scene, James still peripheral) but there was still only one goalkeeper on the England fans' mind when they travelled to the Low Countries for the finals. Seaman was helpless as England's lack of defensive discipline threw away a 2-0 lead to lose the opening group game 3-2 to Portugal in Eindhoven, but he played a blinder and kept a welcome clean sheet as England kickstarted their tournament with a 1-0 win over Germany in Charleroi five days later.

But just as it got to the stage when one game could be make or break, Seaman picked up a leg injury in the warm-up against Romania and Martyn, unprepared, had to step in at the last moment. Though he made some fine saves in an eventful match, Martyn made a judgemental error which led to Romania equalising to 2-2 early in the second half, and the Romanians went on to win 3-2. England were out and this time David was genuinely powerless to prevent it. Seaman won his 60th cap in a 1-1 draw with France in Paris in September 2000 prior to losing sight of a Dietmar Hamann free kick early on in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Germany in what was the final game at the old Wembley. Seaman was still trying to organise a chaotic defensive wall and was unprepared for the sharp Hamann's insolent attempt which squirmed past the Arsenal keeper and ultimately won the game. Keegan quit immediately following the defeat, with Howard Wilkinson taking temporary charge for the qualifier in Finland four days later. A disjointed England, with Seaman one of only five players to remain from the starting line up against Germany, stumbled to a 0-0 draw as the qualifying campaign went from bad to worse. (Matthew Rudd)