Euro 96, Three lions, Gazza and the dentists chair!
The summer of 96, what a time to be alive. The sun shone brightly as the country rode on the crest of Britpop, New Labour and Cool Britannia. The heady optimism of a country on the up bounced into Euro 96 to a chorus of Three Lions. 30 years on from the great success of 66 it was surely our time again and on our own patch? Was Gazza really as good as before and was Shearer really certain to score? One thing was certain was that Psycho would be screaming and Three lions were on all our chests for those glorious few weeks in June. It was coming home!
With Graham Taylor wisely avoiding taking England all the way to USA 94 England had all the time they needed to prepare for one huge tilt at glory. The cockney charm of new gaffer, the late, great Terry Venables, infected the side with its own ‘swag’. A geezer, El Tel, one of the boys. Could he tame Gazza for just 4 more weeks like Robson at Italia 90?
In the weeks leading up to the tournament El Tel made the decision to take the boys away on a pre tournament jaunt to Hong Kong. Time to limber up legs, plan, execute and practice the tactics that would lead them to be champions of Europe. The England squad knew from decades of collective experience that sporting performance was enhanced by taking on the right amount of fluids and despite public outcry at the time and the famous ‘dentist chair’ incident that followed, England went into the tournament well hydrated and ready to fight and die as a team of brothers.
The Dutch, Germans, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians and Russians and many other European behemoths descended on the UK with their own aspirations and dreams. The country was about to be treated to watching giants of the game like Bergkamp, Zidane, Stoichkov, Klinsman, Figo, Hagi and many others in stadiums up and down the UK. A recipe with the finest ingredients to serve up what could truly be a footballing banquet for the ages.
Switzerland were up first for England. Opting to build slowly and hide their true credentials from eagle eyes they played out a tepid first game that ended in a draw. But crucially the game saw the inevitable Shearer break his scoring drought and restore his previously unshakeable self belief. Next up - the auld enemy! Shearer netted again but with a nonpartisan referee deciding that he wanted to burst England's growing bubble he awarded Scotland a penalty. As classy, bald Scot Gary Mac stood over the ball Wembley was hushed. What Gary Mac did not know was that spoon bending wizard Uri Geller was sitting in the crowd and using his mystic force he moved the ball as the penalty was struck and Seaman made the save. Gazza would seal the victory with an outrageous piece of skill. Colin Hendry was left spinning as Gazza lifted the ball over him and arrowed a finish into the net. What followed was one of football's most iconic celebrations, 'the dentists chair’.
England went into the final group game against a dutch team rammed full of Orange brilliance. Up step Shearer and Sheringham. With two goals a piece England smashed a whopping four goals past the Dutch masters. The Dutch did however score a late consolation goal from Kluivert that inadvertently saw the Scots bow out of the competition whilst they progressed to the next round by the skin of their teeth. England's performance is, and will be remembered as, one of its finest.
It was now up to the Spanish to try and stop the English onslaught in the competition. England were of course expected to sweep aside Spain after their heroics against Holland but this is England and things like that just do not happen. We had seemingly used up all of our goals in the demolition of the Dutch as an incident packed game finished without a goal. The Spanish were left questioning how they were not awarded at least one penalty from several key incidents but some astute refereeing charmed the English goal.
Despite the strange relief from the nervous crowd at making it to penalties there was an obvious elephant in the room - England just don't do penalties very well!. 6 years previously a more youthful Stewart Pearce had blasted a penalty high into the night sky against Germany that, at least in part, saw England crash out of an incredible Italia 90. History was not to repeat itself for Pearce who mustered enough power in his penalty and resulting celebration to tear a hole in the vastness of time and space itself. With a squad driven on by Pearce’s will not to fail again England progressed to a huge Semi against, oh no, Germany.
Shearer opened the scoring for England giving him a tournament leading 5 goals and England a great start. However Kuntz, levelled just after the hour mark and an entertaining game played out with no further goals after 90 minutes and then extra time. A seminal incident moments before the end encapsulated how the line between success and failure is so thin in football and all sport. Shearer crossed to a lunging Gazza who stretched every sinew only to miss the ball by a mere fraction and not score a late, late glorious goal to win the game.
So England and Germany would be decided on penalties in a major semi final, again. After All five first choice penalty takers had been and gone it was down to the best of the rest to step up, or at least the bravest of rest. We all know what happens next as we have all carried the scars with us over the decades. Together, rival fans from up and down the country united as one nation with one goal, we watched on and willed a young Southgate to smash his penalty home. The penalty was saved and the dream was over. With that missed kick the warm summer trance of booze, football and good times evaporated and grey reality flooded back into the world. England had fallen ever so slightly short, again. But, this felt somehow different to previous failures. Was it the weather? Was it Gazza scoring a worldie against the Scots? Was it the glorious football played against the Dutch? Was it Pearce's redemption moment? Was it the gung ho forward thinking football of a great footballing visionary in Venables? It's impossible for me to put my finger on what it was that made the tournament so special and live so long in the memory but perhaps you just need a little bit of everything in the right proportion sprinkled with a bit of magic no one can ever really understand, and a lot of booze, for it all to come together to make something special. All I know personally is I loved, nearly, every minute of it.