03-Sep-2020 11:30:30 | Guardian
Robson was handed the England job after the 1982 World Cup but he was given a taster in Reykjavik a month earlier
By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog
In May 1982, England were preparing for their first appearance at a World Cup in 12 years and it was Ron Greenwood’s job to pick the squad. Knowing he had four games in 10 days between the end of the season and England’s opening match at the tournament against France, Greenwood named a provisional squad of 30 players, with 10 more on standby.
For the two games at the end of May – a friendly against the Netherlands at Wembley and a Home International against Scotland at Hampden – Greenwood was without his Tottenham players, who were preparing for the FA Cup final, and his Aston Villa players, who were in Rotterdam winning the European Cup final, so he must have been delighted with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands and 1-0 win over Scotland. Having suffered an embarrassing defeat to Norway six months earlier, Greenwood’s team had now won five games in a row. Things were looking up.
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