| A player who during and after his career was proud to betrothe himself to Nigeria, John Fashanu's international career was nonetheless entirely made in England. Two caps, five days and a fair bit of bad luck condensed the controversial Wimbledon striker's brief sojourn into Bobby Robson's thoughts, with his call-up for the Rous Cup in the summer of 1989 - along with a bunch of other rookie strikers - coming entirely on his impressive goalscoring record without a glance at any unsavoury or unsportsmanlike elements for which his club were renowned. In a dull opener against Chile at Wembley (the photo above is during the game), Fashanu put himself about in as cohesive a manner as he could, but stretching substitute Tony Cottee was then handed a headed chance which was cleared off the line; a taller striker like Fashanu, whom Cottee had replaced, would almost certain have got to the ball at a better angle and scored had he still been in action. Then, at Hampden Park, Fashanu was roundly barracked by a smattering of brainlessly prejudiced Scotland fans and picked up a first-half injury which necessitated his early withdrawal. He openly cursed his luck as he hobbled off and replacement Steve Bull, on his debut, scored a late clincher in a 2-0 win which catapulted him into cult status and simultaneously did for Fashanu's future hopes with the World Cup a year away. Many still claim he shouldn't have been picked, but Arsenal and Liverpool players were absent from the tournament (owing to their title decider, delayed by the Hillsborough disaster, taking place at the same time) and Fashanu was the next centre forward in form on the list. He did next to nothing wrong for England and on two brighter days might have emerged a hero with a longer and more respected career ahead. (Matthew Rudd) |