Stamp licked

The Libyans can't have been too impressed by English goalkeeping standards after Middlesbrough's recent money-spinning trip to…

The Libyans can't have been too impressed by English goalkeeping standards after Middlesbrough's recent money-spinning trip to the country. Someone should tell them, though, that the lad in goal for Bryan Robson's men was one Phil Stamp, Boro midfielder and possibly the only player at the Riverside who Paul Gascoigne out-performs in fitness tests. Ben Roberts, the sole travelling goalkeeper in Middlesbrough's party, took ill prior to the two 45-minute games, both of which they lost, leaving Stamp to take up position between the sticks. "Dodgy keeper," Colonel Muammar Gadafy was heard to chant, and he wasn't wrong.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times