John BARNES

The Jamaican-born but naturalised Englishman John Barnes looked very special when he burst on to the scene at Watford as a teenager, combining pace with a fantastic first touch and real culture within his left foot. The future looked bright when it emerged that he was both keen and qualified to play for England - despite being a fan of West Germany as a child - and before his 20th birthday, Bobby Robson called him up for the summer Home International tournament, throwing Barnes on as a sub for clubmate Luther Blissett for his debut as England drew 0-0 with Northern Ireland in Belfast. Although an outstanding winger, Barnes always maintained there was more to his game than parading up and down the flanks and hitting cross shots and centres, as obviously brilliant at such things that he was. Inconsistencies dogged his England career but successive coaches kept the faith for the simple reason that when John performed, he could win a whole game on his own. Robson took him on England's summer tour of Australia and Barnes first start for England came in a 1-0 win over the hosts in Brisbane. He was still in the team by the time the real business of European Championship qualification returned, but was muted as a slipshod England lost 1-0 at home to Denmark (the photo above is during the game) and saw their hopes of making the finals dashed. It would seem that Barnes would have to wait longer to make his name globally known, but this didn't turn out to be the case as instead of a trip to the European finals, Robson cobbled together a youthful, futuristic squad for a tour of South America. John arrived an unknown and returned an enigmatic genius whose career would never be the same again. (Matthew Rudd)

John Barnes won his tenth cap as Bobby Robson fielded a talented but inexperienced team for the opening game against Brazil in the Maracana. Just before half-time, striker Mark Hateley swung a high left-foot ball to the flank which Barnes had to control with his chest as a Brazilian defender came straight towards him. John set off with the ball classically under control, cutting inside and looking for an outlet after beating a second player, but was forced to keep possession when Tony Woodcock inadvertently blocked his first opening to shoot. Ultimately he kept going on an immaculate controlled weave through defender after defender before rolling the ball past the goalkeeper with his studs and stroking it into an empty net. There was a hush from the crowd as they asked themselves if they'd just seen what they thought they saw. They had. It was an extraordinary goal, one of the greatest individual efforts football would ever see and, even though this wasn't Brazil of a halcyon era, the fact that he did it against football's most intuitive nation, in their own backyard, and at just 20 years of age, made the spectacle all the more outrageous. Barnes then swung over a pinpoint cross for Hateley to head home and secure his move to AC Milan in the process, while England's newest superstar played in the remaining two games of the tour, landed back at Heathrow and stoutly ignored the vile racist chanting as he headed through arrivals and back to Watford.

At this point he had become undroppable from the England team and as the next season got underway, he played in six of the next seven internationals while also re-affirming his credentials in the First Division with Watford. During this period, he scored twice in Istanbul as England pummelled Turkey 8-0 in the second qualifier for the 1986 World Cup - the first had resulted in a similarly one-sided 5-0 Wembley win over Finland - and also took his place in further qualifying success in Northern Ireland and draws against Romania (see photo above) and in the return game against the Finns. In the summer of 1985, John started the inaugural Rous Cup one-off against Scotland, which England lost 1-0, and took part in all three tour games of the summer in Mexico against Italy, West Germany and the host nation. All this time, there was intense expectation upon Barnes every time he got the ball, and the perception of his strengths in the team began to be distorted heavily. Though patently capable of taking on a whole defence as he did at the Maracana, there had emerged an irrational sense of disappointment with Barnes if he didn't do likewise against lesser nations, especially as few atmospheres are as intimidating and nerve-inducing as the Maracana. John's form began to suffer and the more laconic Chris Waddle began to appear more often on the flank, especially if Robson decided he could only play one dominant creative force in wide positions. (Matthew Rudd)

By the end of 1985 and England's final trio of qualifiers - draws against Romania and Northern Ireland and a 5-0 destruction of Turkey - John Barnes was out of the team. The emergence of Steve Hodge as a more cautious wide option down the left side left John deeper down the pecking order as England won all six of their preparation matches prior to Mexico. Barnes' involvement was merely as a substitute in half of them. There was little doubt that John would be on the plane to Mexico, and Robson always said he was at the forefront of his England plans, but as the squad prepared for their opening match against Portugal in Monterrey, Waddle was in the team. Barnes sat on the bench, as did Hodge, and it was the Aston Villa player who was summoned as a sub as England lost 1-0. Waddle and Hodge reprised these roles for the 0-0 draw against Morocco which followed and, with demands for wholesale changes ringing in Robson's ears, Barnes still missed out. Hodge played a blinder as England beat Poland 3-0 to go through and then dumped Paraguay by the same score in the second round. The Argentinians beckoned in the quarter-finals, but Barnes, at this point, was simply not part of the equation. England went 2-0 down through a Diego Maradona brace - one illegal, one incredible - and Robson introduced Waddle to the right flank to little effect. Finally, with fewer than 20 minutes on the clock, Barnes was told to strip down.

His World Cup finals debut came with a brief from Robson to keep England in the competition - and he so nearly managed it. On for Trevor Steven, the one-man unsettling job which John performed on the Argentinian defence was one of the most gripping examples of individuals dominating a football match - and this in a game which had been entirely dictated by Maradona. Time and again he swerved past, through and around the tiring and dizzy Argentine defenders and his crossing had to be dealt with urgently and indelicately. Then, with eight minutes left, one of his powerful runs and chipped crosses reached Lineker's forehead at the far post and the comeback was on. The central players - Hodge, Beardsley, Hoddle - were given instructions to get the ball to Barnes quickly and Waddle was told to forget about being a winger and get into the box to support Lineker. John himself was told simply to run at the Argentines and get balls in as much as possible. England's opponents put two defenders on Barnes but still he managed one last piece of heroic wing play as he swung a higher and more dipping ball to the far post from the byline and Lineker was denied a simple equaliser by a fateful deflection off his overworked marker's head, right under the crossbar. The final whistle went, England were out, but John had redeemed himself. Although Hodge would continue as first choice for the early part of the 1988 European Championships qualifying campaign, John did feature as a sub in the 0-0 draw away to Turkey and then alternated with Hodge for the summer's Rous Cup ties against Brazil and Scotland. Barnes got the nod for the return with the Turks in October '87 (see photo above), by which time he had made a big money move to Liverpool, and repaid his managers faith in him when he finally got his first Wembley goal as part of a brace as England romped to an 8-0 victory. He added another from a superb free-kick as England cemented their place in the finals with a tremendous 4-1 in in Yugoslavia and this resurgence in form was coupled with a stunning introduction to the Liverpool way, earning him the title of the First Division's most feared player. (Matthew Rudd)