England’s Finest Hour (and a halves!)
Despite poor results against Macedonia and Croatia and on the back of a disappointing World Cup which left fans with doubts about their nations capabilities on the World stage, there is no doubt that supporters of England are never left without a moment of drama. Having reached the last five major tournaments and played in three quarter finals and one semi final, we take a look at some of the most exciting moments in England history over the past ten years.
England 2 – 0 Scotland – European Championship 1996 - Group Stages
Dubbed as the ‘Battle of Britain’ and the first major encounter since Scotland’s crushing victory at Wembley in 1967, two great rivals faced off at Wembley during the European Championships of 1996. Having both drawn their first game, England 1-1 with Switzerland and Scotland 0-0 with Holland, the bordering sides came into the game needing a win to put them on the road towards qualification for the knock out stages. Despite an expectant home crowd, England started poorly with Scotland creating several chances through talismen Ally McCoist and Gary McAllister. Though the score remained 0-0 the second half began with Scotland the better side again and their hard work paid off when they won a penalty in the opening stages after a foul by Tony Adams on Gordan Dury. Captain McAlister stepped up to take the penalty but despite sending Seaman the wrong way the Arsenal keeper was able to get his something onto the ball to deflect it onto the bar. With the crowd roaring England on and the game seeming to change after the penalty miss, great play down the right hand side allowed Gary Neville to make space for a cross. Whipping into the danger area led to the ball finding the head of Alan Shearer who took England’s serious chance of the game to put his side 1-0 ahead. The Blackburn forward had no hesitation and nodded the ball past Jim Leighton before celebrating with a crowd who just give minutes earlier had feared the worse.
Clearly rocking from the double blow, Scotland were taken apart by a piece of Gascoigne magic. The player who played his football for Rangers on this day became the England’s talisman after a ball played through by Steve Mcmanaman gave him the chance to run at the defense. Clipping the ball over Colin Hendry with his left ‘Gazza’ took aim and volleyed the ball into the net to give England a great chance of reaching round two. Following the goal Gascoigne and team mates participated in one of the most bizarre goal celebrations ever in which he mimicked the ‘dentists chair’ routine which had rumoured to have taken place as part of the drinking culture which had been wildly reported in the newspaper. After the win, England went onto play Holland in their final group game whilst Scotland hoped for a favour from their oldest enemies if they wanted to get past the group stage.
Argentina 0 – 1 England – World Cup 2002 - Group Stages
Following a draw with Sweden in their first game of the tournament, England were looking to kick start their campaign with a win against rivals Argentina. Winning their first game, the Argentines were looking to repeat the victory of World Cup 1998 which saw England eliminated following a dramatic game. Today however there would be no penalties and the nation woke up early to see whether or not England were genuine contenders for the World Cup.
With both sides looking at the least claim a creditable point, the game started in fairly cagey fashion with Crespo missing a decent first half chance and England’s midfielders looking to take control of the game. Twenty minutes in and Michael Owen terrorised defenders four years after his wonder goal and went over the outstretched leg of Roberto Ayala to win a penalty for his side.
Captain David Beckham, who spoke of gaining redemption before the game following his red card in France, stepped up to take the penalty, smashing it down the middle leaving the keeper with no chance. Despite having most of the possession the Argentineans appeared not to be able to find a way through and their best efforts were thwarted by David Seaman who performed heroically for his country once again after several notable saves. No more spectacular than the one which seemingly sealed the game for England. In the dramatic final moments Batistuta headed towards goal but despite being off balance Seaman managed to stick out a leg and knock the ball over the bar. Slamming the door firmly shut in their group rivals face, England showed their defensive quality in keeping a clean sheet against one of the favourites for the tournament.
By winning the game in such fashion England went on to draw against Nigeria in their final game and claim a place against Denmark in the second stage of the tournament. Despite their tag as one of the favourites of the tournament Argentina drew their final game against Sweden and were eliminated from the competition in the group stages for the first time.
England 2 – 0 Turkey – European Championship 2004 Qualification – Group Stages
Following heated contests between club sides of both countries the meeting of England and Turkey at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light was fuelled by supporter passion as well as a battle for European Championship Qualification from the group.
After a draw against Macedonia and a shaky 1-0 win against Andorra, England were looking to prevent a gap opening up between them and the group leaders. With both sides at full strength, 40,000 passionate supporters piled into the North-East to witness a classic encounter which was played at 100 miles an hour from the off.
Starting for his country for the first time was a fresh faced Wayne Rooney who despite talk of his temperament won his manager faith in the biggest test of their ability since the game in Munich in 2001. Early on the pace appeared to be adding to the drama of the game which was littered with free kicks and unnecessary flash points. It was the 17 year old Evertonian, Rooney, however who seemed to be the most composed player on the pitch, whilst Beckham became embroiled in midfield battles with Umit and Emre, Rooney took to demoralising the away defense with some dazzing displays of skills. England however could not find the break through before half time and it took the introduction of Darius Vassell in the second half for England to look like they would break down the two banks of Turkhish defenders.
Threatening throughout the Aston Villa player capped a superb introductory period when he gave England the lead late on in the game. After a great free kick Beckham fell to Ferdinand it looked as if a goal would surely be scored. The Manchester United defender was thwarted by Rustu before the pacey Vassell fired a right foot shot into the bottom corner.
Turkey immediately looked for a way back into the game but David James produced a string of brilliant saves including a tremendous tip over the bar from an Alpay header. Just minutes after the superb reflex save at one end sub Kieran Dyer strode down the right before being bundled to the ground in the penalty area. Captain Beckham stood tall before driving the penalty with a low accurate strike to the right of the keeper.
The three points England picked up were vital to their qualification hopes as they overcame Turkey as group leaders and did not look back in their qualification via top spot in the table for Euro 2004.
England 2 – 0 Scotland - European Championships Qualification 2000 - Playoff 1st Leg
With a place at Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium on the line it came down to a meeting of two great rivals to claim the one remaining place in the tournament. After struggling once more through their group after a campaign which had been dogged by injuries, poor form and management changes, new boss Kevin Keegan admitted that failiure was not an option. With it seemingly becoming unthinkable that the nation which invented football might not be present at an International tournament for the second time in eight years, Keegan’s men faced a tough trip North to Hampden Park in the first leg encounter.
The Scots who had surprised many in qualification came into the game full of confidence with Craig Brown their manager hoping to mastermind a successful defeat of England and take Scotland to their second European Championships in succession.
A noisy and passionate crowd in the Scottish capital roared the home side on as England started badly with their 3-5-2 system struggling to cope with the lively and bubbly play of their hosts.
Midway through the first half however England sprung a counter attack and Mcmanaman was able to find a bursting Paul Scholes who controlled the ball with his right foot before lifting the ball over the goalkeeper. The England midfielder who had a knack for finding key goals in qualification turned the ball into the net after much pressure had been mounted in the England half.
With Scotland shocked by the undeserved goal of their visitors, the game suddenly turned in the England’s favour and the Three Lions were able to find a second goal Scholes. Once more bursting from deep Scholes made his way onto team mate Beckham’s free kick to head the ball into the back of the net to virtually finish off the game as a contest.
Desperate to give themselves something to build on during the second leg at Wembley, the Scots tried but failed to create some chances and give themselves a hope of making the Finals in Holland and Belgium. England’s defense marshalled by Tony Adams and Gary Neville held firm throughout the second half despite some creative play from Don Hutchinson in midfield. As the whistle blew England celebrated a successful victory over their old rivals before completing the job despite losing the second leg 1-0 at home.
England 3 – 2 Argentina - Friendly Match 2005 – World Cup Warm Up
Following previous entertaining matches in the last two World Cup tournaments, the two rivals with such great pedigree met in a World Cup warm up friendly match in Lausanne during November 2005. Stirring up emotions of 1986, 1998 and 2002, both sides who had virtually qualified and were looking to exert some sort of psychological advantage over one of the other potential favourites for the tournament taking place just across the border in Germany.
Widely recognised as one of the greatest sides in World football Argentina started all their top name players with only Lionel Messi missing from the side through injury. England began with a starting partnership of Owen and Rooney up front hoping that the defensive partnership of Terry and Ferdinand would be enough to hold off everything the South American’s could throw at them.
He side ranked fourth in the World began the better of the two teams, looking to pass their way through the tight England backline. The Three Lions held firm but within five minutes, Terry and Co. could to little however as intricate one twos down the left cut Ashley Cole out of the game before Riquelme cut the ball back to Maxi Rodriguez who found Crespo in the box for the opening goal. With sixteen passes in the move over all England looked shell shocked and struggled to get going after the blow of losing a goal.
They dug in however and were rewarded for their persistence when Wayne Rooney, put through by David Beckham, equalised just five minutes after his side were behind. The goal was just what England needed and with their first attack of the game the young striker was cool and composed as he pulled his country level. Rooney’s finish was not enough to paper over the cracks and Argentina continued to dominate the possession and control the tempo. They failed to make a break through during the end of the first period but did score again soon into the second half when a wickedly curling cross into the box found the head of Walter Samuel who made the score 2-1 to Argentina.
With the game steadily slipping away from his side, Sven Goran Eriksson threw on Peter Crouch for the final ten minutes of the match. Despite the tall Southampton strikers introduction however his supply was cut off by the failiure of David Beckham and Joe Cole, the wide players, to get into the game. With tight marking from their opponents, much of the joy England received was through Wayne Rooney dropping into midfield areas to come and collect the ball. This brought fellow Liverpudlian Steven Gerrard more freedom and it was his excellent cross which found Michael Owen in the 86th minute to level the scores. The Madrid man netted after barely being involved in the game but managed to find some space in the box to head past Abondanziarri to make the score 2-2.
On a high after such a late goal, England pressed on and were rewarded for their attacking threat by another goal late goal from the number 10. As Crouch draw two markers away, Owen slipped in behind and beat the goalkeeper to the ball to send the crowd into ecstasy.
Out on their feet after leading for so long Argentina were able to touch the ball little before the whistle blew to give England a morale boosting victory.
England 0 – 0 Turkey (European Championship 2004 Qualification – Group Stages)
After defeating Turkey in the groups earlier encounter, England had gone onto a record of played five, won five following the 2-0 win in early September. Despite controlling the group, the prospect they now faced was more daunting, heading to Turkey for the deciding game in the group, the away side knew that Macedonia’s shock draw with the their hosts was enough to mean that all that Eriksson’s sides now needed was a draw to be certain of a place at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Aware of the concequences of the result not going in their favour however, England looked to set about winning the game in the hope that this would leave their group rivals with a tricky route through the playoffs if they wanted to make their third consectutive European Championship Finals.
The Three Lions, missing Owen through injury, placed much of the burden on the strike force of Heskey and Rooney with a defense missing Ferdinand hoping that Campbell and Terry could forge a successful partnership. With England looking to make a good start, they came out of the traps quickly and began putting the home side under pressure.
Given the hostility of the previous years clash with Turkey, England fans were banned from travelling and with on the pitch grudges still being held between the two sets of players, referee Collina had to be on his guard, signifying his intent early on by calling together the captains to explain certain decisions.
Showing little of the weight of expectation placed upon them England created a few early chances through Paul Scholes who was looking to put an International goal scoring nightmare behind him. Having not hit the net in 22 months for his country Scholes could quite easily have had a hat trick inside the first half with his first effort hitting the post and the second two going narrowly wide. Young Wayne Rooney was also unlucky not to find the net in the early stages after being put through by Beckham.
Stung by England’s franetic opening, the Turkish, knowing they needed a win, began to attack, leaving spaces behind their midfielders. Gerrard, who was becoming increasingly prominent burst into the void left by the home team and won a penalty for his side ten minutes before half time after a foul by Tugay.
Dramatic scenes ensued however as Beckham contrived to slice a penalty well over the cross bar before being goaded by defender Alpay for missing his sides best chance. Tensions ran high and there was a bust up in the tunnel at half time as the players walked off.
The second period was largely forgettable as England sat deeper and deeper hoping to hold out for a draw, whilst Turkey ran out of ideas and began pumping long balls which were food and drink for the tall backline.
With neither side able to forge a chance good enough of winning the game and it was England who went on from group B to qualify for the European Championship’s as group winners leaving Turkey to face the lottery of the playoffs.
England 2 – 2 Greece - World Cup 2002 Qualification – Group Stages
Bidding to make World Cup 2002, England needed a draw or better in a bid to reach the finals in the Far East the following year. Picking up after a defeat by Germany in their opening group game, England had rebounded to become the top side in their group and after victories over Albania and Germany confidence was high coming into a decisive game against the Greeks at Old Trafford.
A sunny Saturday afternoon turned into a dramatic and vital game for England as they bid to turn over a stubborn Greek side whom they had beaten 2-0 in Athens. With their old rivals Germany, drawing against Finland earlier that day, the home side knew that a point would be good enough to send them into the competition automatically and leave Germany facing the tough task of the Ukraine in the playoff spots.
England pushed on early, hoping to claim an advantage from the outset, a ploy set out by Sven prevent any of the drama which had followed them in qualification so far. Scholes within fourty seconds, but on his home ground, a place where he had scored so many times, his natural instincts let him down. With several players missing from the starting line up the home sides inexperience led to them conceding a goal a poor kick from Nigel Martin left the defence on the back foot a mistake which allowed Angelos Charisteas to give the Greeks a 1-0 lead.
Playing for little more than pride Greece were galvanised by the goal and suddenly began to fancy their chances of a famous upset. Their naivity did however mean that more space opened up on the flanks for Beckham and Barmby who looked to make chances for Fowler and Heskey. The first half ended however with England still down by a goal to nil, throwing on Andy Cole, the three lions began to create chance after chance but with no end product. Beckham, leading my example came close on two occasions with free kicks before Cole had the best chance of the game though his shot was weak and allowed the keeper to clear his lines.
Throwing on his fourth striker of the game, Eriksson introduced on Teddy Sheringham with twenty minutes to go. The Tottenham strikers impact was immediate as seconds after coming on he found his way onto the end of a Beckham free kick and with a header made the score 1-1.
Greece it seemed would now roll over for England to claim the precious victory, but that wasn’t the case as the goal seemed to galvanise their efforts. Just minutes after Sheringham had hit back and England looked to make the most of the momentum they had been gaining throughout the game, Greece stung their hosts by netting their second of the game just a minute after being pegged back. Charistaeas again fired towards goal but after a poor clearance form Campbell, Basinas was allowed space on the edge of the box to slot and accurate shot past Martin.
After expending so much energy to get back into the game England looked shocked by the Greeks second. Eriksson threw caution to the wind and sent his defenders up for every attack with seemingly nothing to lose now they were behind. Good play from Cole almost created an excellent chance for Scholes but he fired wide and the Manchester United striker also went close himself but was denied by the feet of Konstantonopolis.
With hope fading, England’s captain David Beckham began stirring his team up, coming close from a free kick the inspirational captian chased every lost cause and showed his team the effort may get them back into the game. Sheringham again caused trouble in the air and thirty yards from goal he was fouled in the ninety-fourth minute. With one deft swing of his right boot Beckham left the goalkeeper standing by curling the ball into the top right corner of the net.
After receiving so much stick from the public after his red card in the 1998 tournament, Beckham sent the nation into ecstasy with his sheer brilliance leaving England to dream of Japan whilst leaving Germany on the brink of elimination.
England 2 – 0 Colombia - World Cup 1998 - Group Stages
After a win against Tunisia in their opening game and a last minute defeat against Romania in their second game of the group stages meant England, who faced Columbia in their third match of France 1998, know nothing less than a win would be good enough to ensure a smooth passage to the second stages.
Columbia who had beaten Tunisia and run Romania close we playing for little more than pride as all the talk around the game discussed who would be in the England starting line up after Michael Owen netted his first England goal against Romania as a subsitutue. David Beckham who had played all the qualifying games but been dropped since the start of the tournament was also the name on everyone’s lips as Glenn Hoddle gave into supporters pressure and began with the Manchester United and Liverpool players in his line up for the first time.
Starting brightly England knew that goals would be the only way forward. Farid Mondragon the Columbian goalkeeper was tested by an early effort from Paul Scholes and denied Michael Owen with a smart save in the early moments of the game. Owen was not to be denied however as he worked hard down the right hand side to create some space. Rounding his marker, Owen played the ball into the danger area but had his effort cleared by the defender, the ball still found the onrushing Darren Anderton who lashed the ball high into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Columbia continued to fail to get to grips with England’s great play and a foul on the edge of the box gave Beckham an excellent chance to score a second. Curling the ball into the net in trademark fashion, Beckham scored the first goal of his England career before being surrounded by jubulent team mates.
The rest of the game was all about England who held out for the win and claimed their place in round two, going on to face Argentina in St. Etienne.
England 4 – 1 Holland - European Championships – Group Stages)
Following their disappointing draw at Wembley with Switzerland in their first game, England improved to beat their old rivals Scotland 2-0 before facing the toughest task on the group stages in Holland. Despite qualifying through beating Ireland in a playoffs, The Netherlands were one of the favourites for the tournament and following two poor performances so far, they were looking to assert their force on Euro ’96.
A full house inside Wembley saw England get off to a great start through a goal from Alan Shearer. Midfielder Paul Ince burst through into the box only to have his legs clipped away from him by Danny Blint. The Blackburn striker made no mistake with the spot kick, smashing the ball high into the to right hand corner of the net past Van Der Saar. From Shearer’s goal onwards, England never looked back Sheringham netted next with a trademark front post header leaving the goalkeeper with no chance before Shearer added a third after superb work from Gascoigne gave Sheringham a chance to find his college who thundered the ball into roof of the net.
Holland who were understandably shell shocked by the England onslaught began playing their way back into the game, but just as it seemed they would begin making a come back Gascoigne fired in a shot saved by the keeper, fortunately the ball rebounded to an unmarked Sheringham who was able to steer the ball into the side netting for the fourth of the game.
Four goals up before half time and the game well beyond their opponents England began to get sloppy at the back and they were unable to keep a clean sheet as Kluivert beat Gary Neville to the ball before poking the ball past Seaman for a consolation. Unbeknown to them at the time, Kluivert’s goal was just what his side needed to make the second round of the tournament, leaving Scotland dumped out of the competition at the first stages. Jubilent after their victory, England went onto play Spain in the second round whilst Holland met World Cup 1998 hosts France.
Germany 1 – 5 England (World Cup Qualifying 2002)
September in Munich and a must win game from England were on the agenda at the end of the month in 2001. Following Germany’s dramatic 1-0 win in the final game at Wembley in 2000 still lived strong in the memory of the England players who were present that day, having traded Kevin Keegan for Sven Goran Eriksson as manager, the three lions were unbeaten and had renewed confidence under new captain David Beckahm.
Taking on their biggest rivals in the game, England needed to not only win the game but perform well to convince the World that they were realistic condenders to claim the World Cup in the near future. With players such as Gerrard, Owen and Ferdinand coming into the prime of their careers, the team were motivated as they entered the Olympic Stadium on a soon to be memorable Saturday.
The game started slowly with both sides looking for the other to make the first move. Disorgansation at the back let Germany in within ten minutes, a series or poor clearances gave Neuville the chance to send Koller through to slotted the ball past Seaman into the goal. Looking to reply immediately England won a free kick down the left, Beckham floated the original ball which was cleared by a German head, Sol Campbell was able to pump the ball back into the box with the Germans running out to catch players offside. Nick Barmby timed a perfect run to stay on however as he steered the ball into the path of Michael Owen who on the volley finished comfortably.
Being pegged back so quickly, the German’s backed by a massive crowd looked to take the lead. Koller again threatened but had a penalty turned down half way through the half whilst Seaman made a teriffic save from Oliver Neuville keeping his side level. Neuville’s night went from bad to worse when he missed an open goal five minutes from the end of the half and he then gave away a needless free kick in a dangerous area for England.
Beckham swung be the ball in but it was cleared into the path of Rio Ferdinand who had stayed forward. Too distant from the target to head towards the Leeds defender nodded the ball back to Steven Gerrard who hit a rasping volley into the bottom corner of the net to give his side a 2-1 lead just moments before the break.
Having conceded at such a crucial time of the game, Germany failed to recover from the blow whilst the Three Lions never looked back. Michael Owen fired in the third after great work from Heskey and England were in dreamland when the Liverpool striker put through by Beckham fired past Kahn for the hat trick.
Germany simply couldn’t cope with the quality of their opponents play, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes began putting on a show in the midfield, leaving so much space in behind them the Germany’s surcumed to a fifth when Scholes played in Heskey to neatly finish past the astounded keeper.
Realising what they had achieved, England’s players celebrated quite possibly their greatest victory since the 4-2 World Cup final win over Germany and went on to reach World Cup 2002.
Dubbed as the ‘Battle of Britain’ and the first major encounter since Scotland’s crushing victory at Wembley in 1967, two great rivals faced off at Wembley during the European Championships of 1996. Having both drawn their first game, England 1-1 with Switzerland and Scotland 0-0 with Holland, the bordering sides came into the game needing a win to put them on the road towards qualification for the knock out stages. Despite an expectant home crowd, England started poorly with Scotland creating several chances through talismen Ally McCoist and Gary McAllister. Though the score remained 0-0 the second half began with Scotland the better side again and their hard work paid off when they won a penalty in the opening stages after a foul by Tony Adams on Gordan Dury. Captain McAlister stepped up to take the penalty but despite sending Seaman the wrong way the Arsenal keeper was able to get his something onto the ball to deflect it onto the bar. With the crowd roaring England on and the game seeming to change after the penalty miss, great play down the right hand side allowed Gary Neville to make space for a cross. Whipping into the danger area led to the ball finding the head of Alan Shearer who took England’s serious chance of the game to put his side 1-0 ahead. The Blackburn forward had no hesitation and nodded the ball past Jim Leighton before celebrating with a crowd who just give minutes earlier had feared the worse.
Clearly rocking from the double blow, Scotland were taken apart by a piece of Gascoigne magic. The player who played his football for Rangers on this day became the England’s talisman after a ball played through by Steve Mcmanaman gave him the chance to run at the defense. Clipping the ball over Colin Hendry with his left ‘Gazza’ took aim and volleyed the ball into the net to give England a great chance of reaching round two. Following the goal Gascoigne and team mates participated in one of the most bizarre goal celebrations ever in which he mimicked the ‘dentists chair’ routine which had rumoured to have taken place as part of the drinking culture which had been wildly reported in the newspaper. After the win, England went onto play Holland in their final group game whilst Scotland hoped for a favour from their oldest enemies if they wanted to get past the group stage.
Argentina 0 – 1 England – World Cup 2002 - Group Stages
Following a draw with Sweden in their first game of the tournament, England were looking to kick start their campaign with a win against rivals Argentina. Winning their first game, the Argentines were looking to repeat the victory of World Cup 1998 which saw England eliminated following a dramatic game. Today however there would be no penalties and the nation woke up early to see whether or not England were genuine contenders for the World Cup.
With both sides looking at the least claim a creditable point, the game started in fairly cagey fashion with Crespo missing a decent first half chance and England’s midfielders looking to take control of the game. Twenty minutes in and Michael Owen terrorised defenders four years after his wonder goal and went over the outstretched leg of Roberto Ayala to win a penalty for his side.
Captain David Beckham, who spoke of gaining redemption before the game following his red card in France, stepped up to take the penalty, smashing it down the middle leaving the keeper with no chance. Despite having most of the possession the Argentineans appeared not to be able to find a way through and their best efforts were thwarted by David Seaman who performed heroically for his country once again after several notable saves. No more spectacular than the one which seemingly sealed the game for England. In the dramatic final moments Batistuta headed towards goal but despite being off balance Seaman managed to stick out a leg and knock the ball over the bar. Slamming the door firmly shut in their group rivals face, England showed their defensive quality in keeping a clean sheet against one of the favourites for the tournament.
By winning the game in such fashion England went on to draw against Nigeria in their final game and claim a place against Denmark in the second stage of the tournament. Despite their tag as one of the favourites of the tournament Argentina drew their final game against Sweden and were eliminated from the competition in the group stages for the first time.
England 2 – 0 Turkey – European Championship 2004 Qualification – Group Stages
Following heated contests between club sides of both countries the meeting of England and Turkey at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light was fuelled by supporter passion as well as a battle for European Championship Qualification from the group.
After a draw against Macedonia and a shaky 1-0 win against Andorra, England were looking to prevent a gap opening up between them and the group leaders. With both sides at full strength, 40,000 passionate supporters piled into the North-East to witness a classic encounter which was played at 100 miles an hour from the off.
Starting for his country for the first time was a fresh faced Wayne Rooney who despite talk of his temperament won his manager faith in the biggest test of their ability since the game in Munich in 2001. Early on the pace appeared to be adding to the drama of the game which was littered with free kicks and unnecessary flash points. It was the 17 year old Evertonian, Rooney, however who seemed to be the most composed player on the pitch, whilst Beckham became embroiled in midfield battles with Umit and Emre, Rooney took to demoralising the away defense with some dazzing displays of skills. England however could not find the break through before half time and it took the introduction of Darius Vassell in the second half for England to look like they would break down the two banks of Turkhish defenders.
Threatening throughout the Aston Villa player capped a superb introductory period when he gave England the lead late on in the game. After a great free kick Beckham fell to Ferdinand it looked as if a goal would surely be scored. The Manchester United defender was thwarted by Rustu before the pacey Vassell fired a right foot shot into the bottom corner.
Turkey immediately looked for a way back into the game but David James produced a string of brilliant saves including a tremendous tip over the bar from an Alpay header. Just minutes after the superb reflex save at one end sub Kieran Dyer strode down the right before being bundled to the ground in the penalty area. Captain Beckham stood tall before driving the penalty with a low accurate strike to the right of the keeper.
The three points England picked up were vital to their qualification hopes as they overcame Turkey as group leaders and did not look back in their qualification via top spot in the table for Euro 2004.
England 2 – 0 Scotland - European Championships Qualification 2000 - Playoff 1st Leg
With a place at Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium on the line it came down to a meeting of two great rivals to claim the one remaining place in the tournament. After struggling once more through their group after a campaign which had been dogged by injuries, poor form and management changes, new boss Kevin Keegan admitted that failiure was not an option. With it seemingly becoming unthinkable that the nation which invented football might not be present at an International tournament for the second time in eight years, Keegan’s men faced a tough trip North to Hampden Park in the first leg encounter.
The Scots who had surprised many in qualification came into the game full of confidence with Craig Brown their manager hoping to mastermind a successful defeat of England and take Scotland to their second European Championships in succession.
A noisy and passionate crowd in the Scottish capital roared the home side on as England started badly with their 3-5-2 system struggling to cope with the lively and bubbly play of their hosts.
Midway through the first half however England sprung a counter attack and Mcmanaman was able to find a bursting Paul Scholes who controlled the ball with his right foot before lifting the ball over the goalkeeper. The England midfielder who had a knack for finding key goals in qualification turned the ball into the net after much pressure had been mounted in the England half.
With Scotland shocked by the undeserved goal of their visitors, the game suddenly turned in the England’s favour and the Three Lions were able to find a second goal Scholes. Once more bursting from deep Scholes made his way onto team mate Beckham’s free kick to head the ball into the back of the net to virtually finish off the game as a contest.
Desperate to give themselves something to build on during the second leg at Wembley, the Scots tried but failed to create some chances and give themselves a hope of making the Finals in Holland and Belgium. England’s defense marshalled by Tony Adams and Gary Neville held firm throughout the second half despite some creative play from Don Hutchinson in midfield. As the whistle blew England celebrated a successful victory over their old rivals before completing the job despite losing the second leg 1-0 at home.
England 3 – 2 Argentina - Friendly Match 2005 – World Cup Warm Up
Following previous entertaining matches in the last two World Cup tournaments, the two rivals with such great pedigree met in a World Cup warm up friendly match in Lausanne during November 2005. Stirring up emotions of 1986, 1998 and 2002, both sides who had virtually qualified and were looking to exert some sort of psychological advantage over one of the other potential favourites for the tournament taking place just across the border in Germany.
Widely recognised as one of the greatest sides in World football Argentina started all their top name players with only Lionel Messi missing from the side through injury. England began with a starting partnership of Owen and Rooney up front hoping that the defensive partnership of Terry and Ferdinand would be enough to hold off everything the South American’s could throw at them.
He side ranked fourth in the World began the better of the two teams, looking to pass their way through the tight England backline. The Three Lions held firm but within five minutes, Terry and Co. could to little however as intricate one twos down the left cut Ashley Cole out of the game before Riquelme cut the ball back to Maxi Rodriguez who found Crespo in the box for the opening goal. With sixteen passes in the move over all England looked shell shocked and struggled to get going after the blow of losing a goal.
They dug in however and were rewarded for their persistence when Wayne Rooney, put through by David Beckham, equalised just five minutes after his side were behind. The goal was just what England needed and with their first attack of the game the young striker was cool and composed as he pulled his country level. Rooney’s finish was not enough to paper over the cracks and Argentina continued to dominate the possession and control the tempo. They failed to make a break through during the end of the first period but did score again soon into the second half when a wickedly curling cross into the box found the head of Walter Samuel who made the score 2-1 to Argentina.
With the game steadily slipping away from his side, Sven Goran Eriksson threw on Peter Crouch for the final ten minutes of the match. Despite the tall Southampton strikers introduction however his supply was cut off by the failiure of David Beckham and Joe Cole, the wide players, to get into the game. With tight marking from their opponents, much of the joy England received was through Wayne Rooney dropping into midfield areas to come and collect the ball. This brought fellow Liverpudlian Steven Gerrard more freedom and it was his excellent cross which found Michael Owen in the 86th minute to level the scores. The Madrid man netted after barely being involved in the game but managed to find some space in the box to head past Abondanziarri to make the score 2-2.
On a high after such a late goal, England pressed on and were rewarded for their attacking threat by another goal late goal from the number 10. As Crouch draw two markers away, Owen slipped in behind and beat the goalkeeper to the ball to send the crowd into ecstasy.
Out on their feet after leading for so long Argentina were able to touch the ball little before the whistle blew to give England a morale boosting victory.
England 0 – 0 Turkey (European Championship 2004 Qualification – Group Stages)
After defeating Turkey in the groups earlier encounter, England had gone onto a record of played five, won five following the 2-0 win in early September. Despite controlling the group, the prospect they now faced was more daunting, heading to Turkey for the deciding game in the group, the away side knew that Macedonia’s shock draw with the their hosts was enough to mean that all that Eriksson’s sides now needed was a draw to be certain of a place at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Aware of the concequences of the result not going in their favour however, England looked to set about winning the game in the hope that this would leave their group rivals with a tricky route through the playoffs if they wanted to make their third consectutive European Championship Finals.
The Three Lions, missing Owen through injury, placed much of the burden on the strike force of Heskey and Rooney with a defense missing Ferdinand hoping that Campbell and Terry could forge a successful partnership. With England looking to make a good start, they came out of the traps quickly and began putting the home side under pressure.
Given the hostility of the previous years clash with Turkey, England fans were banned from travelling and with on the pitch grudges still being held between the two sets of players, referee Collina had to be on his guard, signifying his intent early on by calling together the captains to explain certain decisions.
Showing little of the weight of expectation placed upon them England created a few early chances through Paul Scholes who was looking to put an International goal scoring nightmare behind him. Having not hit the net in 22 months for his country Scholes could quite easily have had a hat trick inside the first half with his first effort hitting the post and the second two going narrowly wide. Young Wayne Rooney was also unlucky not to find the net in the early stages after being put through by Beckham.
Stung by England’s franetic opening, the Turkish, knowing they needed a win, began to attack, leaving spaces behind their midfielders. Gerrard, who was becoming increasingly prominent burst into the void left by the home team and won a penalty for his side ten minutes before half time after a foul by Tugay.
Dramatic scenes ensued however as Beckham contrived to slice a penalty well over the cross bar before being goaded by defender Alpay for missing his sides best chance. Tensions ran high and there was a bust up in the tunnel at half time as the players walked off.
The second period was largely forgettable as England sat deeper and deeper hoping to hold out for a draw, whilst Turkey ran out of ideas and began pumping long balls which were food and drink for the tall backline.
With neither side able to forge a chance good enough of winning the game and it was England who went on from group B to qualify for the European Championship’s as group winners leaving Turkey to face the lottery of the playoffs.
England 2 – 2 Greece - World Cup 2002 Qualification – Group Stages
Bidding to make World Cup 2002, England needed a draw or better in a bid to reach the finals in the Far East the following year. Picking up after a defeat by Germany in their opening group game, England had rebounded to become the top side in their group and after victories over Albania and Germany confidence was high coming into a decisive game against the Greeks at Old Trafford.
A sunny Saturday afternoon turned into a dramatic and vital game for England as they bid to turn over a stubborn Greek side whom they had beaten 2-0 in Athens. With their old rivals Germany, drawing against Finland earlier that day, the home side knew that a point would be good enough to send them into the competition automatically and leave Germany facing the tough task of the Ukraine in the playoff spots.
England pushed on early, hoping to claim an advantage from the outset, a ploy set out by Sven prevent any of the drama which had followed them in qualification so far. Scholes within fourty seconds, but on his home ground, a place where he had scored so many times, his natural instincts let him down. With several players missing from the starting line up the home sides inexperience led to them conceding a goal a poor kick from Nigel Martin left the defence on the back foot a mistake which allowed Angelos Charisteas to give the Greeks a 1-0 lead.
Playing for little more than pride Greece were galvanised by the goal and suddenly began to fancy their chances of a famous upset. Their naivity did however mean that more space opened up on the flanks for Beckham and Barmby who looked to make chances for Fowler and Heskey. The first half ended however with England still down by a goal to nil, throwing on Andy Cole, the three lions began to create chance after chance but with no end product. Beckham, leading my example came close on two occasions with free kicks before Cole had the best chance of the game though his shot was weak and allowed the keeper to clear his lines.
Throwing on his fourth striker of the game, Eriksson introduced on Teddy Sheringham with twenty minutes to go. The Tottenham strikers impact was immediate as seconds after coming on he found his way onto the end of a Beckham free kick and with a header made the score 1-1.
Greece it seemed would now roll over for England to claim the precious victory, but that wasn’t the case as the goal seemed to galvanise their efforts. Just minutes after Sheringham had hit back and England looked to make the most of the momentum they had been gaining throughout the game, Greece stung their hosts by netting their second of the game just a minute after being pegged back. Charistaeas again fired towards goal but after a poor clearance form Campbell, Basinas was allowed space on the edge of the box to slot and accurate shot past Martin.
After expending so much energy to get back into the game England looked shocked by the Greeks second. Eriksson threw caution to the wind and sent his defenders up for every attack with seemingly nothing to lose now they were behind. Good play from Cole almost created an excellent chance for Scholes but he fired wide and the Manchester United striker also went close himself but was denied by the feet of Konstantonopolis.
With hope fading, England’s captain David Beckham began stirring his team up, coming close from a free kick the inspirational captian chased every lost cause and showed his team the effort may get them back into the game. Sheringham again caused trouble in the air and thirty yards from goal he was fouled in the ninety-fourth minute. With one deft swing of his right boot Beckham left the goalkeeper standing by curling the ball into the top right corner of the net.
After receiving so much stick from the public after his red card in the 1998 tournament, Beckham sent the nation into ecstasy with his sheer brilliance leaving England to dream of Japan whilst leaving Germany on the brink of elimination.
England 2 – 0 Colombia - World Cup 1998 - Group Stages
After a win against Tunisia in their opening game and a last minute defeat against Romania in their second game of the group stages meant England, who faced Columbia in their third match of France 1998, know nothing less than a win would be good enough to ensure a smooth passage to the second stages.
Columbia who had beaten Tunisia and run Romania close we playing for little more than pride as all the talk around the game discussed who would be in the England starting line up after Michael Owen netted his first England goal against Romania as a subsitutue. David Beckham who had played all the qualifying games but been dropped since the start of the tournament was also the name on everyone’s lips as Glenn Hoddle gave into supporters pressure and began with the Manchester United and Liverpool players in his line up for the first time.
Starting brightly England knew that goals would be the only way forward. Farid Mondragon the Columbian goalkeeper was tested by an early effort from Paul Scholes and denied Michael Owen with a smart save in the early moments of the game. Owen was not to be denied however as he worked hard down the right hand side to create some space. Rounding his marker, Owen played the ball into the danger area but had his effort cleared by the defender, the ball still found the onrushing Darren Anderton who lashed the ball high into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Columbia continued to fail to get to grips with England’s great play and a foul on the edge of the box gave Beckham an excellent chance to score a second. Curling the ball into the net in trademark fashion, Beckham scored the first goal of his England career before being surrounded by jubulent team mates.
The rest of the game was all about England who held out for the win and claimed their place in round two, going on to face Argentina in St. Etienne.
England 4 – 1 Holland - European Championships – Group Stages)
Following their disappointing draw at Wembley with Switzerland in their first game, England improved to beat their old rivals Scotland 2-0 before facing the toughest task on the group stages in Holland. Despite qualifying through beating Ireland in a playoffs, The Netherlands were one of the favourites for the tournament and following two poor performances so far, they were looking to assert their force on Euro ’96.
A full house inside Wembley saw England get off to a great start through a goal from Alan Shearer. Midfielder Paul Ince burst through into the box only to have his legs clipped away from him by Danny Blint. The Blackburn striker made no mistake with the spot kick, smashing the ball high into the to right hand corner of the net past Van Der Saar. From Shearer’s goal onwards, England never looked back Sheringham netted next with a trademark front post header leaving the goalkeeper with no chance before Shearer added a third after superb work from Gascoigne gave Sheringham a chance to find his college who thundered the ball into roof of the net.
Holland who were understandably shell shocked by the England onslaught began playing their way back into the game, but just as it seemed they would begin making a come back Gascoigne fired in a shot saved by the keeper, fortunately the ball rebounded to an unmarked Sheringham who was able to steer the ball into the side netting for the fourth of the game.
Four goals up before half time and the game well beyond their opponents England began to get sloppy at the back and they were unable to keep a clean sheet as Kluivert beat Gary Neville to the ball before poking the ball past Seaman for a consolation. Unbeknown to them at the time, Kluivert’s goal was just what his side needed to make the second round of the tournament, leaving Scotland dumped out of the competition at the first stages. Jubilent after their victory, England went onto play Spain in the second round whilst Holland met World Cup 1998 hosts France.
Germany 1 – 5 England (World Cup Qualifying 2002)
September in Munich and a must win game from England were on the agenda at the end of the month in 2001. Following Germany’s dramatic 1-0 win in the final game at Wembley in 2000 still lived strong in the memory of the England players who were present that day, having traded Kevin Keegan for Sven Goran Eriksson as manager, the three lions were unbeaten and had renewed confidence under new captain David Beckahm.
Taking on their biggest rivals in the game, England needed to not only win the game but perform well to convince the World that they were realistic condenders to claim the World Cup in the near future. With players such as Gerrard, Owen and Ferdinand coming into the prime of their careers, the team were motivated as they entered the Olympic Stadium on a soon to be memorable Saturday.
The game started slowly with both sides looking for the other to make the first move. Disorgansation at the back let Germany in within ten minutes, a series or poor clearances gave Neuville the chance to send Koller through to slotted the ball past Seaman into the goal. Looking to reply immediately England won a free kick down the left, Beckham floated the original ball which was cleared by a German head, Sol Campbell was able to pump the ball back into the box with the Germans running out to catch players offside. Nick Barmby timed a perfect run to stay on however as he steered the ball into the path of Michael Owen who on the volley finished comfortably.
Being pegged back so quickly, the German’s backed by a massive crowd looked to take the lead. Koller again threatened but had a penalty turned down half way through the half whilst Seaman made a teriffic save from Oliver Neuville keeping his side level. Neuville’s night went from bad to worse when he missed an open goal five minutes from the end of the half and he then gave away a needless free kick in a dangerous area for England.
Beckham swung be the ball in but it was cleared into the path of Rio Ferdinand who had stayed forward. Too distant from the target to head towards the Leeds defender nodded the ball back to Steven Gerrard who hit a rasping volley into the bottom corner of the net to give his side a 2-1 lead just moments before the break.
Having conceded at such a crucial time of the game, Germany failed to recover from the blow whilst the Three Lions never looked back. Michael Owen fired in the third after great work from Heskey and England were in dreamland when the Liverpool striker put through by Beckham fired past Kahn for the hat trick.
Germany simply couldn’t cope with the quality of their opponents play, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes began putting on a show in the midfield, leaving so much space in behind them the Germany’s surcumed to a fifth when Scholes played in Heskey to neatly finish past the astounded keeper.
Realising what they had achieved, England’s players celebrated quite possibly their greatest victory since the 4-2 World Cup final win over Germany and went on to reach World Cup 2002.