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Steve Foster's leadership qualities and distinctive on-pitch appearance often belied his genuine status as a solid, ball playing defender and it was these attributes which prompted Ron Greenwood into making arguably his most controversial squad selection prior to the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Foster had only four months and two games of international football under his belt, yet he was given the reserve central defender's spot behind Terry Butcher and Phil Thompson while Dave Watson, a sprightly 36 years old and 65 caps up, was left out altogether.
Ultimately, defence had little to do with England's elimination as the back four always did its job, conceding just one goal in five games as England's attacking potency deserted them and they exited after two weak goalless draws in the second round pool against old adversaries Germany and hosts Spain. With qualification assured from the first round after victories over France and Czechoslovakia, Greenwood rested Butcher and gave Foster a run out for the 1-0 win against Kuwait before restoring Butcher to the team for the next phase. After England went out, Bobby Robson took over and never called Foster up, with Brighton's rapid decline out of the top division that season not helping his cause. (Matthew Rudd)
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