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Euro 2012 History: The 1996 finals
Germany broke English hearts on penalties once again before going on to win the tournament for the third time in its history with a Golden Goal win over the Czech Republic
1 Dec 2011 08:54:00
By Graham Lister
Getty Images
| HOST COUNTRY - ENGLAND |
Uefa's 10th European Championship - known as Euro 96, the first to adopt the 'Euro' prefix - was staged in England, who won the right to host the tournament in competition with bids from Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands.
It was 30 years (of hurt, according to the Euro 96 anthem, 'Football's Coming Home') since England had last held a major tournament, and despite going concerns about possible hooliganism, they organised a successful three-week event.
The format had been significantly expanded, involving 16 teams rather than eight, but following the Taylor Report, England now had enough all-seater stadia of appropriate capacity to accommodate it. Not every game was a sell-out, but as well as receiving blanket media coverage, the tournament recorded the highest aggregate attendance in championship history (1,276,000) and the highest average per game (41,158) for a 31-match event.
The eight venues used were Wembley (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), Anfield (Liverpool), Villa Park (Birmingham), St James' Park (Newcastle), City Ground (Nottingham), Hillsborough (Sheffield) and Elland Road (Leeds).
| QUALIFYING |
| IN THE NEWS IN 1996... |
| * Motorola introduces the world's smallest, lightest mobile phone to date - the Motorola StarTAC Wearable Cellular Telephone * Major League Soccer kicks off in the United States as San Jose Clash beat DC United 1-0, with Eric Wynalda scoring the league's first goal * Steffi Graf wins her 19th Grand Slam title, beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the longest ever women's final at the French Open * Muhammad Ali lights the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony for the Atlanta Games, and receives a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory in the 1960 Summer Olympics * In England, The Prince's Trust concert attracts 150,000 people to Hyde Park, London, where The Who perform for the first time since 1989 |
Uefa had decided to double the number of teams at Euro 96 from eight to 16 because rather absurdly it had become easier for European countries to qualify for the World Cup than for their own continental tournament. Whereas Europe provided 14 of the 24 World Cup finalists in 1982, 1986 and 1990, the European Championship finals still only had room for eight teams. Meanwhile, fragmentation of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia contributed to an increase in the number of Uefa members wanting to participate from 33 teams in 1988 to 48 in 1996.
Reflecting this, several teams were making their first Euro appearance: Croatia (Group 4 winners), Russia (who topped Group 8), Bulgaria (Group 7 runners-up), Switzerland and Turkey (first and second, respectively, in Group 3), and Czech Republic.
The other finalists were Romania and France (winners and runners-up, respectively, in Group 1); Spain and holders Denmark (Group 2); Italy (Group 4 runners-up); Germany (Group 7 winners); and Scotland (Group 8 runners-up).
| FINAL TOURNAMENT |
| TOP SCORERS |
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Alan Shearer Jurgen Klinsmann Brian Laudrup Hristo Stoichkov Davor Suker |
Nation England Germany Denmark Bulgaria Croatia |
Goals 5 3 3 3 3 |
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England kicked off proceedings with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, and Scotland threw Group A wide open by holding the Netherlands to a goalless draw. The Dutch beat Switzerland 2-0 and England triumphed by the same score over traditional rivals Scotland, a match that helped the tournament catch fire throughout Britain, and one memorable for Paul Gascoigne’s sublime goal and joyously ridiculous celebration.
Enthusiasm for the Three Lions reached fever pitch when, with strikers Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham on song, they spectacularly took the Netherlands apart, scoring three times in nine dazzling second-half minutes to win 4-1 and top the group. The late Dutch goal prevented Scotland, conquerors of the Swiss, from progressing ahead of Oranje.
Both France and Spain emerged unbeaten from Group B; the pair had drawn 1-1 but Les Bleus beat both Romania and Bulgaria to win the group and so avoid England in the quarter-finals.
Having beaten Russia but drawn with Czech Republic, Italy needed to beat Germany in their last Group C game to progress – they drew 0-0 so the Czechs accompanied Germany into the knockout stage.
The first two quarter-finals both finished goalless after extra-time and went to penalties. David Seaman’s heroics saw England through 4-2 against Spain, while France defeated the Netherlands 5-4 on spot-kicks.
But Germany and Czech Republic both won within 90 minutes, 2-1 against Croatia and 1-0 against Portugal, respectively.
It was a case of penalty deciders, too, for both semi-finals. The Czechs were 6-5 winners against France after 120 goalless minutes. But at Wembley, the clash of the titans saw England and Germany level at 1-1 after a pulsating extra period. Inevitably, it seemed, the Germans won the shoot-out, as they had at Italia 90.
| THE FINAL Germany 2-1 Czech Republic (AET) |
The final of Euro 96 was not only a re-match of the 1976 final, but also of the two sides’ opening Group C game, which Germany had won 2-0. Yet the Czechs had recovered from that setback and impressed, with Karel Poborsky, Pavel Nedved, Patrik Berger and Vladimir Smicer catching the eye.Grappling with the deprivations of injuries, German coach Berti Vogts had to field the unfit Jurgen Klinsmann and Thomas Hassler in the final. His side went behind on 58 minutes to a controversial penalty, conceded by Matthias Sammer on Poborsky, converted by Berger.
But the Germans, resilient as ever, struck back. Oliver Bierhoff replaced Mehmet Scholl and scored on 72 minutes. So to extra-time, which finally did produce a Golden Goal – after just five minutes. Bierhoff spun to connect with Klinsmann’s pass and fire past Petr Kouba. After consulting his linesman about a possible infringement by Kuntz, the referee gave the goal.
| PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT |
Some national heroes emerged during England’s campaign – few more popular than goalkeeper David Seaman, who was excellent throughout and produced a couple of man-of-the-match performances against Scotland and Spain, when his penalty-saving heroics were decisive. Euro 96 sponsor Philips named him ‘Player of the Tournament’.The self-effacing shot-stopper said amid the hype: “It’s great when you get so much praise for just doing your job well. I will take it all because you know it can go the other way.”
It did go the other way once or twice in Seaman’s illustrious career, but for the most part he was as dependable as a rock. Capped 75 times for England, he racked up more first-team games than any other Arsenal keeper and won a host of medals as a Gunner.
After a brief spell at Manchester City, Seaman retired with a recurring shoulder injury and has since appeared often on British TV. He also hosts the ‘Safe Hands’ charity golf event annually.
| MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT |
England had just preserved their 1-0 lead against Scotland thanks to a Seaman penalty save at sunbathed Wembley. Moments later Paul Gascoigne was running down a bouncing ball deep in Scottish territory. He reached it, audaciously flicked it up over Colin Hendry with his left foot then smashed a superb low volley into the net with his right past the helpless Andy Goram – Gascoigne’s club-mate at Rangers.
| MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT England 1-1 Germany (Germany won 6-5 on penalties) |
England brimmed with desire and confidence; determined Germany stood their ground. It was a perfectly poised contest.
Shearer gave England a third-minute lead, only for Stefan Kuntz to equalise on the quarter-hour. England dominated possession and repeatedly made chances but couldn’t convert them, though they came agonisingly close, especially in a compelling, high-tempo extra 30 minutes. In the penalty shoot-out, the first 11 kicks were all scored. Then Andreas Kopke saved from Gareth Southgate, Andreas Moller fired home, and the Germans had won again.
Visit our Euro 2012 microsite for all you need to know ahead of Friday's draw and beyond - team profiles, stadium guides, even which hotels are best to stay in!
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21:50 BST -
And here are some quotes from today's goalscorer, Danny Welbeck: "It's still the same, me and Ashley [Young] playing together.
"We know each other's games and obviously we're training with each other day in and day out.
"So, it was really good to start up top with him."
"We know each other's games and obviously we're training with each other day in and day out.
"So, it was really good to start up top with him."
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