Nigel Martyn surely played himself into Glenn Hoddle's World Cup squad in the Mohamed V Stadium here yesterday evening by producing an outstanding performance in goal to deny Belgium their first victory over England for 62 years - in normal time, that is.
The Leeds United goalkeeper made save after save as what was essentially Belgium's reserve team consistently infiltrated Hoddle's midfield and found space among his defenders. Martyn kept his best until last, tipping over a thunderous 30-yard drive from Enzo Scifo in the 87th minute.
Eventually Belgium took the points in the Hassan II Tournament by winning 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after Robert Lee and Les Ferdinand had shots saved by Philippe Van De Walle. But even here Martyn had his moment, moving quickly to push Scifo's kick wide.
On this evidence, Martyn will be joining David Seaman and Tim Flowers in France as England's third goalkeeper. And maybe Dion Dublin will edge out Les Ferdinand for the striker's place left vacant by the withdrawal of Ian Wright. Dublin replaced a limping Sol Campbell for the last 15 minutes, enough time to show how at home he can be as an emergency defender, which will be a strong factor in his favour.
Now the debate concerns two places and four candidates. Will it be Lee or Nicky Butt, each of whom produced sound performances yesterday, or Paul Merson or Steve McManaman? Merson looked sharp on occasions, McManaman stayed on the bench.
By and large the match told Hoddle little that he did not already know. Paul Gascoigne, for example, was confirmed as a head case. Having suffered a high kick from Scifo in the opening minutes, he played on with head bandaged until five minutes into the second half, when David Beckham replaced him. Although he was not on the field for the full 90 minutes, he achieved more than he had against Morocco 48 hours earlier.
Hoddle began with a 4-4-2 formation and reverted to three at the back after half-time, when Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand replaced Gary and Philip Neville. Owen, scorer of Wednesday's winning goal against Morocco, was more subdued yesterday, although he did not enjoy the service he had received from McManaman in the earlier game.
As if to emphasise the ephemeral nature of the exercise, Hoddle handed the captain's armband to Campbell, at 23 the youngest player to lead England since Bobby Moore.
Yesterday there were momentary doubts that Gascoigne would survive beyond the seventh minute after receiving the flailing boot of Scifo above the left eye. While Humpty Dumpty was being put together again, Belgium should have scored.
Lokonda "Emile" Mpenza launched himself through a channel of space on the left before catching England's defenders square with a high pass into the middle, where Michael Goossens and Danny Boffin were both unmarked. Fortunately for England, the pair impeded each other in their eagerness to shoot, and Martyn ended up having to field nothing more than a feeble shot from Boffin.
No matter what system Hoddle adopts there will always be problems when the ball is freely given away. Last night was a familiar story as Scifo and Glen De Boeck won easy possession in midfield and sought out their front runners.
When England did get their passing together the results were encouraging. From Gascoigne's pass, Lee's through-ball released Les Ferdinand, only for the striker to be ruled offside. At least the Belgian cover had been penetrated.
Yet without either Paul Ince or David Batty in midfield, England remained vulnerable to the sort of move which could have seen them fall behind midway through the half. Boffin darted behind Gascoigne to meet De Boeck's pass and set up Lokonda Mpenza for a shot which Martyn did well to push wide.
Campbell's experience of international captaincy was cut short by a foul which saw De Boeck booked in the 65th minute. Les Ferdinand took the armband, thus awaking the possibility of his becoming the first England captain to be left out of a World Cup squad.
Belgium: Van de Walle, Deflandre, Van Meir, Verstraeten, Borkelmans, De Boeck, Verheyen (Claessens 62), L M'Penza, Goossens (M M'Penza 45), Scifo, Boffin. Subs Not Used: De Wilde, Staelens, Crasson, Leonard. Booked: Van Meir, De Boeck.
England: Martyn, G Neville (R Ferdinand 45), P Neville (Owen 45), Butt, Campbell (Dublin 76), Keown, Lee, Gascoigne (Beckham 50), L Ferdinand, Merson, Le Saux. Subs Not Used: Walker, Batty, Sheringham, Shearer, McManaman, Scholes, Anderton.
Referee: E Arjoune (Morocco).
