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Gazza struggles to avoid Best's mistakes
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-07 09:58 ENGLAND FAME
He had shot to fame with the national side at the World Cup in 1990, his
tears at England's semi-final exit on penalties to Germany becoming one of the
tournament's lasting images.
Blessed with great ball skills and a rare creative vision, Gascoigne's club
career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio and
Rangers. Despite some bad injuries over the years, he also amassed 57 England
caps and scored two memorable goals at Wembley Stadium.
In a 2000 poll of fans, Gascoigne's lob over Scotland defender Colin Hendry
and volley into the net at Euro 96 was voted the best goal ever scored beneath
the Twin Towers.
His 30-metre free kick for Spurs in their 1991 FA Cup semi-final victory over
derby rivals Arsenal was voted the fifth best.
It was all a far cry from the latter years of his career, spent at
Middlesbrough, Everton, Burnley and the relative wilderness of China's second
division before he hung up his boots last year as player/manager of fourth
division Boston United.
In one of the more bizarre twists, fed up with his Gazza nickname, Gascoigne
also announced at the time he wanted henceforth to be called G8 - combining his
initial and former shirt number.
The idea was to sever ties with his hell-raising days when large amounts of
alcohol, consumed in the company of his best mate Jimmy 'Five Bellies' Gardner,
frequently turned the player into the nation's laughing stock.
However, G8 proved to be yet another change which did not work out for
Gascoigne, whose future in football management is looking increasingly
bleak.
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