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Updated Thursday June 1, 2000 Phillips' fears prove to be unjustified By Martin Lipton
It was the longest day of Kevin Phillips' life - a day he will never forget. Despite his 30 goals for Sunderland in his first Premiership season he was convinced that Kevin Keegan had singled him out for the final bullet.
That fear had led to Phillips' impassioned outburst on the eve of decision day, when he had gone public on his worries.
Even when he attended Wednesday's final pre-cut session at Bisham Abbey amid predictions that Andy Cole would be the one to miss out, Phillips was preparing himself for the knock on the door of his hotel room.
Phillips had misread Keegan's training ground concentration on Robbie Fowler as a sign that he was not wanted, that all his efforts had cut no ice with the coach.
Instead, as Phillips was still waiting terrified for the news, Keegan was knocking on Cole's door, giving him the message, trying in vain to persuade him that he could still play a part in 'Team England'.
It was the same heartbreaking message Keegan had to pass on three more times, to David James, Rio Ferdinand and Kieron Dyer, all of whom had seen their Euro 2000 obituaries written on the back pages for a week or more.
It did not make it any easier for them, although like Nick Barmby and the uncapped pair of Gareth Barry and Richard Wright, Phillips need not have worried after all, need not have tossed and turned throughout the night.
He should have asked Cole. For all Keegan's vehement denials that he had made up his mind in advance, the Manchester United man had known all along that it would be him, that the man who sold him because of Newcastle's desire for a happy ship was of prime importance.
Cole's reluctance to smile for the cameras, even when Keegan had whispered into his ear, his downcast face, his traipsing along behind the rest of the players even in the post-session warm-down, had spoken volumes.
It meant that the United striker was ready for the knock, already steeling himself for what was to come.
Ever desperate to sugar even the most bitter of pills, Keegan extended the invitation to Cole to sit on the bench against Ukraine.
The olive branch was rejected, although there were none of the drunken antics that followed Paul Gascoigne's exclusion when Glenn Hoddle gave him the bad news in La Manga two years ago.
Cole politely declined, packed his bags, and as the rest of the squad headed for Wembley, was travelling back to the north-west. Perhaps he realised his England career - if it could be called that - is no more.
The reaction from the others who will join the injured duo of Ray Parlour and Jamie Redknapp in missing out could not have been more different. Two years ago, it was Phil Neville who broke down in tears when he received the bad news from Hoddle.
This time, Rio Ferdinand was the man most affected by the decision to omit him in favour of Barry. Ferdinand could not believe what he was hearing, and when Keegan reassured him that he would play a big part in England's future, it could not even come close to alleviating the pain he felt.
What made things so bad for the West Ham defender was the fact that until Jason Wilcox was forced out of contention to allow Barry's elevation from the Under 21 squad, he had been in the 22.
But Ferdinand accepted the decision with maturity, agreeing to work off some of his anguish by playing a part against the Ukrainians. He knew that Keegan could be England manager for the next four years or more, that his time will come again.
The example of Neville proved that. Omitted by Hoddle, he is the only player to have featured in each of Keegan's 11 games as coach.
Dyer similarly had reason to feel hard done by, as he lost out to Barmby. At Wembley in September, he had set the stadium on fire against Luxembourg and he has prospered as much as anybody on Tyneside under Bobby Robson.
He has scored stunning goals and delivered perfect crosses for skipper Alan Shearer, but he knew that he could only watch and wonder 'what if' over the next four weeks.
Dyer, too, agreed to join the bench.
It was not easy for him either, but he knows that he is the future and that he will get the chance to prove Keegan wrong next season.
James, another whose chances had only been raised by one utterly erroneous report, accepted the decision with good grace.
Three-quarters of an hour before the kick-off, he left the dressing room in the company of Michael Owen. Over the next few weeks, they will have very different experiences.
Keegan had made his decision. There could be no going back. There is only looking forward.
ENGLAND 22:
David Seaman
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RELATED: Keegan: Cole was not fit to go to Finals Reaction: Ferdinand wishes England well Cole left out, so he packs bags England 2-0 Ukraine: Fowler repays faith Old warhorse may yet be back for a last gallop |
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