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History repeats itself! Gary Mabbutt on Eric Dier, his England debut, Germany and Dier's year

Of course, it’s Eric Dier.

Or is it Gary Mabbutt?

In fact, it’s both!

The similarities are uncanny.

Go back to October, 1982 and Gary, aged 21, was called up for his senior England debut for the friendly against West Germany at Wembley.

Fast forward from there to November, 2015 and Eric, aged 21, was called up for his senior England debut in the friendly against Spain in Alicante.

The perfect symmetry would have been if Eric had also earned his first senior cap against Germany but as we all know, he just waited for his third cap to face the Germans - and scored a dramatic late winner as England came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in March last year.