Bobby Robson took the uncapped - and almost unknown - Tony Dorigo as back-up as the ageing Sansom was more prone to injuries by this stage, but again Kenny played every minute of England's tournament, which capped a miserable season for him and sent all ends of his career plunging downwards. Having lost the captaincy of Arsenal to Tony Adams earlier in the campaign after a row with manager George Graham, he then contrived to make one of the most costly mistakes the national side has ever made. A chaotic England defence was struggling to deal with an early set-piece from opponents the Republic of Ireland (the photo above is during the game) in Stuttgart, and as a ball was played across the penalty area Sansom tried to reach it as it bounced, hoping to catch it on the half volley and clear it down the pitch. Instead, the ball hooked high and backwards off his instep, tearing England's defence to shreds, and Ray Houghton headed the Irish goal which won the match.
Sansom played in the remaining two matches - a 3-1 lesson in football from Holland and a rotten-to-the-core defeat by the USSR - before England came home, shellshocked and disgraced. Robson, once he was persuaded by the FA not to resign, took drastic action and completely removed Sansom from his thinking, giving Pearce the No.3 shirt which he would keep hold of with much aplomb and pride, not to mention incident, over the next decade. Sansom, who was then sold by Arsenal to an out-of-sorts Newcastle team, was recalled briefly for one squad as back-up to Pearce in 1989 after Dorigo was injured, but got nowhere near the team and would never do so again. He won 86 caps, played in four major tournaments and never caused a moment's bother for his coaches, on or off the pitch. He should have had more rivals for his place and perhaps he benefitted from the lack of serious contenders for the shirt until Pearce emerged, but the fact that he maintained such high standards even without the pressure of competition suggests he was an excellent professional and an excellent player. (Matthew Rudd)
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