Despite being a regular scorer of goals for both Crystal Palace and Arsenal, Ian Wright never truly nailed down a place in the England team.
His international career spanned seven years, yet throughout that period he only earned 33 caps, with just 16 of those coming from the start of matches. During that time the centre-forward scored nine goals, four of which came against San Marino in a World Cup qualifier 22 years ago today.
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It had been a miserable campaign for Graham Taylor's Three Lions, who made the trip to Bologna for this final qualifier in the knowledge that they were unlikely to progress to the main tournament in the USA. Not only did they need to beat their hosts by a seven-goal margin, the Netherlands also had to drop points from their trip to Poland.
As it turned out, England did their best to keep up their end of the bargain thanks mainly to the influence of a clinical Wright, but they ultimately fell short. Also, a brace from Dennis Bergkamp in Poznan helped the Dutch to record a 3-1 win, thus sealing his team's advancement.
Nevertheless, before Wright hit the goal trail, England fell behind in under nine seconds as the home team scored only their second goal of the group stages. Full-back Stuart Pearce badly underhit a backpass that was intended for goalkeeper David Seaman and Davide Gualtieri nipped in to find the bottom corner of the net.
It took England until the 22nd minute to restore parity when Paul Ince fired in from distance, before Wright claimed his first goal of the evening 12 minutes later. David Platt's initial shot was turned away, but the lively Wright was on hand to turn in the rebound to score what was his second goal at international level.
Les Ferdinand made it 3-1 before the break and then moments after the restart Wright added another when his downward header bounced into the roof of the net.
Ince volleyed in Ferdinand's cross to make it 5-1, while the final two goals in the 78th and 90th minutes came courtesy of the impressive Wright.
First of all he completed his hat-trick when Ferdinand flicked Gary Pallister's lofted pass into his path and then the scoring was concluded when he slotted a through-ball from Ince straight down the middle of the goal.
Having taken his international goal tally to five, Wright went on to find the net just four more times prior to his last appearance for England in 1998.
England: Seaman; Dixon, Pallister, Walker, Pearce; Sinton, Platt, Ince, Ripley; Ferdinand, Wright
Liam Apicella
