27 March 1999, Wembley - European Championship Qualifying Competition - England v Poland - Ray Parlour comes on as substitute for Steve McMananan. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

England stars have endured their fair share of heartache over the years as officials fail to spot shots crossing the line.

Frank Lampard's strike against Germany at the 2010 World Cup is arguably the most notable of any goal in world football not being awarded, with his half-volley bouncing at least a full yard over the goal-line.

A decade prior to that incident, however, Ray Parlour experienced the exact same agony while playing for England. Though admittedly not in quite the same circumstances, Parlour, while playing for the Three Lions against Finland during qualifying for World Cup 2002, missed out on his first goal for the national team.

England star Ray Parlour denied first, and only, international goal

Having hit a 30-yard strike, Parlour's shot bounced down off the crossbar and crossed the goal-line, but the linesman failed to spot it and the game remained 0-0.

"Yeah, that was over the line! It was like Lampard against Germany," Parlour exclusively tells FourFourTwo. "That was under Howard Wilkinson.

"It was a cold night in Helsinki, I got my chance, and I remember that when I hit it, I thought, Thats got a chance. It hit the bar, then it was so clearly over the line. I was celebrating. But they said it wasnt over the line. I thought, What?!

"It was a 0-0 draw, and you never know: that can make a big difference in a career. I was more gutted for my mates, because theyd backed me as first goalscorer and it was big money for them!"

Parlour failed to play in a major tournament for the Three Lions, with injury ruling him out of Euro 2000 following a clash with Brazil just weeks before the tournament was due to start.

"Before Euro 2000, Roberto Carlos did my ligaments," Parlour says. "It was Brazil at Wembley, I was playing really well, then I went for a tackle and stretched my ligaments. I was gutted. That would have been my big chance.

"In tournament football, if you get a chance and you come on and score, suddenly your England career can kick off. But it wasnt to be."

Parlour made just 10 appearances for England during his career, with players such as David Beckham selected ahead of him, while his falling-out with Glenn Hoddle also limited his chances.

Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.


Read More
TakeSporty
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by TakeSporty.
Publisher: FourFourTwo

Recent Articles

Get Updates on Current Happenings instantly

Get Updates on Current Happenings instantly