Neal Collins soccer Imagine how Ray Parlour feels. All those years in the shadows at Arsenal and when he bursts through to score the goal all England was praying for after 86 minutes and 59 seconds, the linesman’s looking the other way. >From the angles I’ve seen so far, there can be no question. Parlour’s late effort in the 0-0 draw against Finland crosses the line, Geoff Hurst style, after hitting the underside of the crossbar. It was a stunning goal, full of pace and power. Parlour said: “I ran away celebrating – I thought it was in. It would have been my first goal for England.” Parlour, a bit of a party animal in the old pre-Arsene Wenger days at Arsenal, had produced a wonder strike to keep the World Cup dream alive. But no. The unflagging linesman failed to spot it and French referee Alain Sars waved play on. All hope gone, leaderless England slumped to a goalless draw in Helsinki and the English sky fell in. Albania beat Greece, and with Germany riding high, England now sit uncomfortably at the foot of qualifying Group Nine. Germany have only lost one qualifying game in their history. Now England need them to lose two out of their next six. Ever since Kevin Keegan’s departure on Saturday after the awful defeat against Germany at Wembley, a mood of depression has haunted this rain-lashed flood- threatened land. Caretaker boss Howard Wilkinson, a one-man depression if ever I saw one, has never had much luck when in charge of England. His first caretaker role, between the reigns of Glenn Hoddle and Keegan, resulted in a 2-0 defeat against France at Wembley. On Wednesday, the 0-0 draw was far more damaging than that friendly humiliation. Wilko must blame himself for some of that ill-fortune. His selection of Dennis Wise ahead of Paul Ince proved faulty. The recall of anti-hero Phil Neville, the veteran Teddy Sheringham and his non- talking Manchester United club mate Andy Cole were all serious mistakes. Only Parlour’s selection, probably forced upon Wilko by circumstances and faint hearts, proved a revelation. The Arsenal man was everywhere, one minute denying the Finns with a towering defensive header, the next producing the crunching midfield tackles.
The boy from Romford, 1,77m and nearly 76kg if you count the weight of the Premiership’s untidiest hairstyle, should have been a national hero on Thursday morning. Instead he awoke like the rest of England. To another gloomy October morning with the nation in gloomy mourning.