Glenn Hoddle's faith in healers needs to be reciprocated at Wembley tonight by a reaffirmation of the English public's faith in their nationals side. Certainly a solid victory over Portugal would restore confidence in his team's World Cup prospects after the 2-0 home defeat by Chile and an indifferent 1-1 draw in Switzerland.
Hoddle's confirmation that for the past 18 months his players have been availing themselves of the healing powers of Eileen Drewery, a spiritual acquaintance of 20 years' standing, has livened up the preliminaries no end. Otherwise the story has been the familiar one of injuries disturbing Hoddle's preparations, with Paul Gascoigne once more the principal concern.
The England coach left Gascoigne out of the squad for last month's 1-1 draw in Switzerland because of his lack of match practice. Now Hoddle rates the player's chances of returning tonight as "60-40 against" because of the ankle injury he has been carrying since joining Middlesbrough from Rangers.
"Gascoigne is struggling to be fit for this game," Hoddle admitted yesterday. "I don't think he needs an operation but we've got to get him fit by the end of the season and playing him now could be a risk long-term. It could keep him out of football for two to three weeks, which we can't afford."
It is unlikely, given the player's continuing fitness problems, that Hoddle now regards Gascoigne as part of the spine of England's World Cup team which he intends fielding against Portugal tonight; a spare rib, perhaps. Presumably the spinal column will start with David Seaman in goal and run through Tony Adams, Paul Ince and Teddy Sheringham to Alan Shearer up front. Paul Scholes looks the obvious alternative to Gascoigne.
Hoddle's team selections are seldom predictable but there is no obvious reason why the remaining gaps should not be filled by David Beckham and Graeme Le Saux on the flanks, with David Batty in midfield and Sol Campbell one of the centre-backs alongside Adams; Gary Neville rather than Gareth Southgate may be the other.
Portugal failed to qualify for the World Cup but are still regarded by Hoddle as an ideal test for England at this stage. Certainly their intricate passing game bears comparison with Colombia, England's last opponents in the opening phase, although their attack is unlikely to possess the sort of cutting edge Marcelo Salas gave Chile when they won at Wembley in February.
Hoddle has asked his players to be in a "World Cup mode" tonight, which would be an advance on the indifferent performances against Chile and Switzerland that have taken some of the gloss off the pleasure of qualifying.
"If we can get a good win under our belts against a good-quality side then the momentum will start building up again," the England coach observed, "but if we don't win it will not be a disaster.
"The result is always important in an international but the date we're working towards is June 15th, when we meet Tunisia in the World Cup. We all know that, come kick-off time in Marseille, whatever's happened in the past will be out of the window."
Psychics included, although yesterday Hoddle denied ever having had a working relationship with Uri Geller. "I met him once four years ago," he explained, "and I've not seen him since. I've not had any association with him, nor has the FA."
However, he continued to defend the healing powers of Drewery with the calm conviction of a true believer. Undaunted by such headlines as `Heaven Help Us' and `Hoddle's Barmy Army', the England coach predicted that "in years to come healing will just be the norm".
Tonight's game coincides with the release of the official England World Cup song. Entitled, with stunning originality, On Top of the World, it has a backing by the Spice Girls, presumably in the hope that Girl Power will inspire goal power.
Given the fuss about faith healers and spoon-benders, a reworking of the Scaffold hit concerning medicinal compounds might have been more appropriate. Or one of Spike Milligan's nonsense numbers.
England (probable): Seaman; G Neville, Adams, Campbell; Beckham, Ince, Batty, Le Saux; Gascoigne or Scholes; Sheringham, Shearer.
Portugal (probable): Silvino Louro (Salgueiros), Sergio Conceicao (Porto), Roberto 'Beto' Severo (Sporting Lisbon), Paulinho Santos (Porto), Dimas Teixeira (Juventus, Italy), Paulo Sousa (Inter Milan, Italy), Luis Figo (Barcelona, Spain), Jose Calado (Benfica), Joao Pinto (Benfica), Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Nuno Capucho (Porto).
