John Barnes (footballer) - International Career

International Career

Though a Jamaican by birth, Barnes opted to represent the country he had lived in since the age of 13 and was given his England debut by Bobby Robson on 28 May 1983, when he came on as a second half replacement for Watford team-mate Luther Blissett as England drew 0–0 with Northern Ireland in a British Championship match at Windsor Park, Belfast. He and Blissett were among the first black footballers to be full England internationals.

On 10 June 1984 Barnes scored a goal against Brazil, when he outpaced and out-thought several Brazilian defenders before rounding Roberto Costa and slotting the ball into an empty net during a friendly match at the Estádio do Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The goal brought him worldwide fame but also a sense of heavy expectation, with some observers and supporters expecting him to produce moments like that on a match-by-match basis.

In his early England days, he and fellow black player Mark Chamberlain were subjected to threats from racist groups. Notably, Barnes was abused by supporters of the National Front on the plane back from South America in June 1984; the racists claimed that England had only won 1–0 against Brazil because Barnes' goal "didn't count".

Bobby Robson did not use Barnes at the 1986 World Cup until the quarter final against Argentina when England were trailing 2–0 with 15 minutes to go. (BBC commentator Barry Davies famously shouted: "Go on! Run at them!" when Barnes was given the ball), setting up one goal for Gary Lineker and laying on another chance which Lineker missed. England went out of the competition, but Barnes had been recognised for his contribution in the game and many questioned why Barnes had not been playing at the start or in previous matches. He then went on to be a regular starter for his country at both the 1988 European Championships and the 1990 World Cup.

Barnes was later described by Bobby Robson as being part of "The best front four in Europe" - The others being Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley, and Chris Waddle. Despite high expectations, like many others he flopped at 1988 European Championships; he received the ball irregularly stuck wide on the left, and England suffered some shock defeats.

He pulled out of England's first international game after the Hillsborough disaster due to the grief he felt at the time. In his absence, England won the World Cup qualifying game against Albania 5-0 at Wembley on 26 April 1989.

In the lead up to the World Cup Barnes was played several times as a striker by Bobby Robson and in a warm up match against Uruguay played well and scored an excellent half volley from a Stuart Pearce cross. Great things were expected of Barnes.

At the World Cup he sustained a groin injury against Belgium shortly after having a magnificent volleyed goal wrongly disallowed for offside. England went out to Germany on penalties in the semi-final. Barnes had again supplied a rap for a tie-in song, "World In Motion" by New Order, which was a UK Number 1 and is still regarded by many as the best football song ever made.

Under Graham Taylor, many speculated his old mentor and manager at Watford would be able to get the best out of him, but his form was to become even less consistent; although this may have partly been down to the decline of English football as a whole during this period. In Graham Taylor's first match as England Manager (against Hungary), Barnes had appeared to be attacking positively and beating players and using the ball well. This was a false dawn however and throughout a difficult time for the England squad, Barnes had few other highlights with the exception of scoring a stunning free kick against Holland in a crucial 1993 World Cup qualifying match.

In a 1994 World Cup qualifying game against San Marino, Barnes was booed by an entire section of England supporters at Wembley after a poor performance by the whole team. Barnes later believed an article attributed to Jimmy Greaves which had appeared in the Daily Mirror in which his loyalty to England was questioned- citing his supposed support for the West Indies Cricket team, had helped influence the booing in the crowd.

Barnes continued his international career into the mid 1990s. He earned a surprise recall in 1994 after improved form for Liverpool under Terry Venables, and was in the squad in the run up to Euro 96 although failed to make the final squad for the tournament despite England not having an established left sided alternative.

England's former most capped black player won 79 caps and scored 11 goals, but compared to his club form, he was never seen as a player who peaked when wearing an England shirt. Bobby Robson famously described him as the "Greatest enigma" of his career; whilst including him for his all time dream team England squad of all the players he had picked as manager in his 1990 book "Against All Odds" (placing him on the bench), he was baffled at Barnes's inconsistency. He described Barnes as being a player of "the highest calibre" but sometimes being unable to reach for that bit extra when he or Captain Bryan Robson shouted at him to take more players on. Barnes himself has since said that he felt the systems played during his time as an England player were "rigid" and more focus was on speed, aggression, and attacking through the centre rather than a patient passing style of play. He also claimed that he could receive the ball as few as six or seven times throughout a match whereas at Liverpool he may receive it more than twenty times, and he had more freedom under Kenny Dalglish who did not ask him to stay on the left wing all the time. England also had a very different system to Liverpool at the time who were much more free-flowing, and later claimed that to have got the best out of him, they would have needed a similar system to the one used by Kenny Dalglish, which was never likely to happen. He also cited the case of Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle who he felt England were unable to get the best out of during this time.

Newspapers at the time of his England career even queried whether his disciplinarian upbringing in Jamaica to a military family and rumoured beatings as a child from his parents had contributed to his underperformance as an England footballer.

Tony Adams has also subsequently picked Barnes to be in his England dream team in his 1999 book Addicted", citing that Barnes "Could pass, move, dribble, had Brazilian style movement... what more could you want?" He also backed claims of Barnes's that England at times used rigid systems.

Nevertheless, he remained in the top ten most capped players list for eleven years until David Beckham and then Gary Neville edged him out from ninth to 11th.

After 12 years of international recognition Barnes won the last of his 79 caps on 6 September 1995 in the 0–0 friendly draw with Colombia at Wembley. The goalless friendly will always be remembered because of the eccentric Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita's 'Scorpion Kick.'