IT wasn't exactly a turn up for the books, and there wasn't a turnip in sight, but England supporters knew who to blame when their football team missed out on being among the seeded teams for the forthcoming World Cup finals.
When Monday night's decision, taken in a smoke-filled room in France, on who should be the top eight was formally confirmed yesterday, it became clear that England had paid for the failure of Graham Taylor to lead his country to the last World Cup finals in the United States.
The man now in his chair as England coach, however, took the news in his stride, despite it
raising the prospect of being drawn in the same group as the likes of defending champions Brazil or old adversaries Germany. Glenn Hoddle even hinted that he could envisage England going all the way to the finals.
Asked what he thought of prospect of playing Brazil in the opening stages, Hoddle replied: ''At least if we play them in the group stage, we won't have to meet them until the final.''
Those words could be interpreted as an indication of the growing confidence in the England camp.That self-belief would have been heightened had they been among the eight to head each group in the summer.
England's chances of doing well when the competition starts were certainly given a boost as a FIFA
decision to grant a bookings amnesty frees talented young Tottenham sweeper Sol Campbell for England's opening game.
As they did for the 1994 finals in the US, the 28-member organising committee judged the teams on their World Cup records, especially the last three competitions, in conjunction with their positions in the latest FIFA rankings.
FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter said: ''60% of the
weighting was given to the performances in the last three World Cups and 40% to the current world rankings. England were naturally penalised because they were not in the USA. The
performances there have been multiplied by three and England clearly scored no points.''
Although sixth in the latest world rankings, Hoddle's side are placed alongside the other eight
European qualifiers, including Scotland, and could find themselves drawn in the same ''group of death'' as the Brazilians,
Croatia and Olympic champions Nigeria. Yet Hoddle, who flies out here to southern France tomorrow, said: ''I'd have no problems if we did have to play Brazil.
''Certainly, a group like that wouldn't be any tougher than having to qualify from the same group as Italy, Georgia and Poland. There's a tinge of disappointment of course, as being seeded would have made the path a bit easier, but it's not a surprise because we felt it was going to go against us.''
Hoddle admitted that Italy's placing in the top group was disappointing, although he accepted it was hard to justify not seeding the beaten finalists last time round. ''The fact that you can end up being seeded after only getting in through the back door has to be addressed,'' said Hoddle.
''Italy nearly didn't make it, we beat them in the group, yet they're seeded and we're not. There's no point in crying about it. It's the price we paid for not qualifying last time, which we mustn't do again. Now we've got to get on with things and see what happens.''
Michel Platini was another who did not get all he wanted, the joint president of the France'98 organising committee having hoped that an African country would be seeded and that major nations like Spain and Italy would play their matches close to their respective borders.
Meanwhile, FIFA are still trying to persuade the local municipal authorities at Nantes and St Etienne to tear down the fences that surround their soccer fields in time for the finals to fall into line with the world body's policy since the 1989 tragedy at Hillsborough that killed 96 fans trapped inside a fence.
qFORMER England coach Terry Venables, who narrowly failed to lead Australia to the finals, is wanted by Nigeria as manager following the resignation of Frenchman Philippe Troussier.
Iran, who ousted the Australians, are also looking for a new coach and are interested in Johan Cruyff. Olympic team manager Valdeir Vieira had led them to the finals after former coach Mohammad Mayeli Kohan was sacked.
Steve Sampson signed a new contract that will see him lead the USA's challenge, despite much criticism of his team selections.
qWorld governing body FIFA yesterday agreed with the Football Association's verdict that the crowd trouble at October's Italy versus England match was mainly the fault of the Roman authorities.
Rival fans clashed during the match in the Olympic Stadium, in which England's 0-0 draw ensured qualification for next summer's World Cup Finals. The FA's response was a report that accused the Italian police of ''deliberate intimidation'' of English fans and the stadium authorities of a lack of proper stewarding.
Lancaster Gate was itself charged with conducting a whitewash, with the Italian FA making clear their disagreement with the English conclusions. However, FIFA put its weight far more behind the English version of events than the Italian viewpoint in an official statement released after yesterday's meeting of the World Cup Organising Committee.
qBookmakers have made holders Brazil 100-30 World Cup favourites. Other odds:
6-1 France; 7-1 Germany, Italy; 15-2 England; 8-1 Holland; 12-1 Argentina, Spain; 25-1 Nigeria, Yugoslavia; 33-1 Colombia, Norway, Romania; 40-1 Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia; 50-1 Denmark, Paraguay; 66-1 Scotland; 100-1 Austria, Cameroon, Mexico, Morocco, S Africa; 150-1 Chile, S Korea, Tunisia; 200-1 Jamaica, S Arabia, USA; 250-1 Iran, Japan.
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