In the final part of our unique series on whufc.com this
summer, in which we have looked back at West Ham United players who
have made an impact at the World Cup finals over the years, we
feature the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea that saw three
Hammers board the plane with England to the Far East...
Three Hammers were to become Three Lions at the 2002 World Cup
in Japan and South Korea. But while David James and Joe Cole had
been automatic inclusions in Sven-Goran Eriksson's 23-man
squad, the originally omitted Trevor Sinclair found himself going
the long way round.
Just as the disappointed West Ham wide boy was preparing for a
family holiday in St Lucia, an injury to Kieron Dyer saw him placed
on standby.
But after flying, via Dubai, to Jeju Island in the South China Sea,
Sinclair decided to return to Chadwell Heath to train alone after
the England coach decided to place him back on standby and gamble
on Dyer's fitness.
However, injuries to Steven Gerrard and Danny Murphy then opened
the World Cup door once again and, earning nearly enough Air Miles
to fly to the moon, Sinclair took another long-haul flight back to
the Far East to rejoin the squad, where he was handed the No.4
shirt vacated by the luckless Liverpool duo.
With David Seaman installed as first-choice goalkeeper, there was
to be no tournament participation by disappointed David James, but
Cole did appear as a 73rd-minute substitute in England's Group
F opener against Sweden (1-1), for whom future loanee Niclas
Alexandersson wiped out Sol Campbell's opener.
But with just 17 minutes of football under his belt, Joe would have
to wait until 2006 for his next slice of World Cup action.
It was Sinclair's turn to step from the bench in the second
game, though, as David Beckham exorcised the horror of his
Argentinian dismissal four years earlier, by slamming home a
vengeful, long-overdue winner from the penalty spot.
"When Sven told me that I was going on I had a whole mixture
of feelings - excitement, fear, expectation. You name it, I felt
it!" revealed Trevor, after replacing the injured Owen
Hargreaves just 18 minutes into England's 1-0 victory and
collecting his sixth full cap.
"Having proved myself in the Premiership, I knew that it
was a massive chance for me to show that I could do it at
international level in the biggest football tournament in the
world.
"I looked around at Hernan Crespo, Javier Zanetti, Juan
Sebastian Veron and all the other Argentinians and I knew that I
mustn't be afraid. If I'd thought: 'Oh God, what am I
doing here?' I would've frozen, but I truly believed in my
ability.
"The pressure was off, I'd been on standby, then I'd
made the squad and now I was actually being brought on to play for
the team itself. Without any doubt it was the highlight of my
career."
While Cole and James sat out England's subsequent goalless draw
with Nigeria and a second round victory over Denmark (3-0) - in
which ex-Hammer Rio Ferdinand dubiously scored and future Upton
Park capture Teddy Sheringham emerged as substitute - Sinclair was,
by now, an automatic starter.
But England's World Cup dream was famously ended by the
pony-tailed Seaman's nightmare flap at Ronaldinho's
long-range, up and under free-kick in the quarter-finals.
"Although we went ahead through Michael Owen, we have to
accept that the better team won," admitted Sinclair after the
1-2 defeat at the hands of eventual winners Brazil. "There
were a lot of good teams at the 2002 World Cup who were sent home
early, while we came through the so-called 'Group of Death'
and put in some decent performances along the way.
"And don't forget, Brazil went on and won the tournament,
too!"
Elsewhere, a Republic of Ireland squad containing one-time Upton
Park youth starlet Matt Holland and future West Ham players Gary
Breen and David Connolly made it into the second round, where they
lost to Spain on penalties.
And there were early, first round departures for Cameroon duo
Rigobert Song - who had been on loan at FC Cologne ahead of his
East End departure to Racing Club Lens - and ill-fated, ex-Hammer
Marc-Vivien Foe.
Former striker Paulo Wanchope also saw Costa Rica fall at the first
hurdle but, alongside James, Cole and Ferdinand, he was, at least,
destined to find himself back at the 2006 finals in Germany...
by Steve Blowers, author of Nearly Reached The Sky - West Ham United 1989-2005, available now in the club store.