Man Utd Star Was Frozen Out for England After Falling Out With Team-Mate

A former Manchester United star was not selected by England partly because of one of his team-mates - who he says he 'detested' for 15 years.

Ahead of the 1998 World Cup, England boss Glenn Hoddle had to make a number of significant decisions over who he would select in his squad for the tournament.

The most shocking of those was to omit the legendary Paul Gascoigne, with the attacking midfielder later revealing he 'went berserk' in Hoddle's room after finding out the news.

Ian Wright was selected instead, with the Arsenal forward joining a strikeforce that consisted of Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and a young Michael Owen.

The striker who missed the cut was United's Andy Cole, who had scored 25 goals in all competitions during the previous campaign. He wasn't even called up after Wright suffered a pre-tournament injury.

Cole mostly played up front with Teddy Sheringham that season, and the pair formed a strong partnership - despite never speaking to each other.

His dislike of his fellow England international started when Sheringham snubbed a handshake with Cole as he replaced him to make his Three Lions debut in 1995.

It’s 29 years today since Andy Cole made one of the unhappiest England debuts ever against Uruguay.

First he’s famously blanked by Teddy Sheringham, then he hits the bar, before his side are booed off at full time.

Terry Venables never picked Cole again.pic.twitter.com/4FbUxbQcen

— Stu’s Football Flashbacks (@stusfootyflash) March 29, 2024

Writing in a column for The Independent in 2010, he stated: "From that moment on, I knew Sheringham was not for me.

"Two years later, after Eric Cantona left United, Sheringham arrived. We played together for years. We scored a lot of goals. I never spoke a single word to him.

"I wouldn't ever cast aspersions on Sheringham's talent as a top-rate footballer for his clubs and country. I've just loathed him personally for 15 years.

"I would rather sit down and have a cuppa with Neil Ruddock, who broke my leg in two places in 1996, than with Teddy Sheringham."

Hoddle later said that he didn't select Cole for the World Cup because he 'required five chances to score'.

England were knocked out at the round of 16 stage by Argentina - famous for David Beckham's red card after kicking out at Diego Simeone - and Hoddle was sacked a year later over remarks made about disabled people.

He returned to management with Southampton, before a two-year spell with Tottenham Hotspur starting in 2001.

Hoddle's Spurs lost to Blackburn in the 2002 League Cup final - with Rovers striker Cole, who had signed for the club a year earlier, scoring the winning goal.

He told reporters afterwards: "To have beaten one of Hoddle's teams makes this feel really good.

"I was not happy with the way he went about things," Cole continued. "The fact that he made those criticisms to the press before telling the players, and that's his style."