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Former Manchester United defender has revealed his worst memory of ex-England international Paul Gascoigne who had a chequered career with brilliant highs interspersed with some lows.
Considered one of England's best players, Gascoigne - a midfielder by trade - played a key role in the Three Lions' run to the UEFA Euro' 96 semifinal and in the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals. He also sizzled in their qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup but was controversially left out of the finals by manager Glen Hoodle because of fitness concerns.
A week before the tournament in France, Gascoigne was pictured eating kebabs. So, Hoodle made the tough call to drop the star player. Suffice to say, Gascoigne didn't react kindly to it.
Recalling the incident on Stick to Football podcast (as per Sun), Neville - then 23 - said:
“My worst memory was the day when Hoddle was telling everybody about whether they were in the squad. It’s a horrible feeling, but it was Phil Neville and Nicky Butt who got cut.
“I was in the room with Phil and Paul Scholes when suddenly, all hell broke loose with Paul Gascoigne. And I had never seen anything like it in my life, and I think it killed us as a team right at that moment because Gazza was so popular, and he was the energy."
Neville detailed the hell-breaking incident involving Gazza:
“The next day was like D-Day. Glenn Roeder, who was one of Hoddle’s assistants, walked past Gazza at the pool and didn’t look at him properly. So Gazza jumps the queue, runs upstairs and goes straight in ahead of everyone into the room for his meeting with the manager.
"That’s where all hell breaks loose. He came out and smashed one of the doors, it was mayhem.”
The then 31-year-old later said in his autobiography that he kicked a door and nearly hit Hoodle before better sense prevailed. A Gascoigne-less England side would crash out on penalties to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup second round.
How did Gary Neville fare for Manchester United?
Gary Neville is one of the bonafide legends of Manchester United. A quintessential one-club man, the 48-year-old made 602 senior appearances for the club, bagging seven goals and 49 assists, between 1992-93 and 2010-11.
The right-back won a lot of silverware for Sir Alex Ferguson's team, including 12 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles. He also won seven English Super Cup and four FA Cups, among others.
Neville contributed a goal and three assists - all in the Premier League - in Manchester United's treble-winning 1998-99 campaign. The Englishman played 53 times across competitions that season.
