Trevor Steven - International Career

International Career

A stunning season for Steven was completed when, in February 1985, he was called up by England coach Bobby Robson to make his debut in a qualifier for the 1986 World Cup against Northern Ireland. He stayed in the side for the next three games, scoring his first goal in a friendly win over the Republic of Ireland and contributing to a brace of drawn qualifiers versus Romania and Finland.

When he was awarded his fifth cap against Italy at the beginning of a summer mini-tournament in North America, he was joined behind him by his Everton team-mate Stevens, therefore transferring a successful and feared partnership to the international stage. However, Steven soon had a rival for the right flank as Robson began to explore various combinations for his wide men. Chris Waddle was a more flamboyant and explosive player than Steven (and John Barnes was similarly so against the more stoic Steve Hodge on the left flank) but Robson often preferred the consistency and team play of Steven on the right wing and he became a frequent choice as a result.

Steven scored his second England goal in a 5–0 thumping of the USA in Los Angeles at the conclusion of the summer tour. Everton were once again challenging for First Division and FA Cup honours and Steven became one of the country's most consistent players, regularly putting on a show with Everton while maintaining his form internationally when given the opportunity. In January 1986 he scored the opening goal in a 4–0 win over Egypt in Cairo and continued to be selected as the World Cup neared.

Steven played as England thrust aside Paraguay in the second round but in the quarter final, with England 2–0 down against Argentina, he was sacrificed midway through the second half by Robson to give Barnes his first run-out. Barnes single-handedly destroyed the Argentine defence but could only set up one goal and England were eliminated.

The next year saw Steven settled back into a dominant Everton side, which regained the League title with some panache. He also played a full part in a robust qualification campaign for the 1988 European Championships. By the time the tournament came round in the summer of 1988, Steven had a healthy 22 caps.

The competition was a disaster, as England succumbed to tiredness to lose all three of their group games. Steven in the squad, missed the calamitous opening defeat to the Republic of Ireland, but played in the 3–1 defeat by Holland, after which his pal Stevens was lambasted for some weak defending against Dutch centre forward Marco van Basten, who scored a memorable hat-trick. Steven stayed in the team for the now meaningless final group game against the 1–3 defeat against USSR, which was the worst performance of the lot, although he was unlucky not to give England the lead when his header hit the underside of the crossbar when the score was still 1–1.

England came home in disgrace but Robson stayed in his job and Steven stayed in his plans as the qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup loomed, edging out Arsenal's David Rocastle. However, his right flank partner Stevens left Everton to join Rangers and Steven struggled to form a similar telepathy with replacement Neil McDonald. Everton ended the season without a trophy – losing the FA Cup final to Liverpool again – and Steven wasn't called up for England until the end-of-season Rous Cup shindig against Scotland, which England won. Steven made his last appearance for England during Euro 92 in Sweden, in the 0-0 goalless draw in a group game against England on 14 June 1992. He had played 36 times for England at senior level, and scored four goals.