Terry Venables admitted he was haunted by “nightmares” of Paul Gascoigne’s near-goal before England’s Euro 96 dreams came to a crashing halt.
News of former England manager Venables’ death at the age of 80 broke on Sunday (November 26). Venables famously led the Three Lions to the semi-finals of Euro 96, where they were knocked out on penalties by Germany despite many believing they were good enough to win the tournament.
They came agonisingly close to knocking out their fierce rivals, in fact, just a mere few inches. With the score level at 1-1 in extra-time, Alan Shearer fizzed the ball across from the right hand side, beating the entirety of Germany’s defence.
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Lurking at the back post was fan-favourite Gascoigne, or ‘Gazza’, who threw himself at the ball. But the Geordie icon’s boot missed it by a matter of inches, failing to tap the ball into an empty net.
The rest is history – Gareth Southgate scuffed his crucial penalty while Andreas Moller made no such mistake against David Seaman. And the late former England boss revealed on BBC 5 Live Breakfast back in May 2014 that he still rued the missed opportunity.
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“I think about it most nights, actually. When I’m in bed I have nightmares about it,” Venables said while chuckling.
“I do! It’s one of those things where, you think you have a lifetime in the game and it’s really fantastic, and then this little whisker of Gazza missing the ball for the goal that would have taken us to the final.
“You think to yourself about what could have been. Not so much now but for a long time it got to me.”
Germany went on to become European champions with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic. England have still not won a major trophy, coming closest in 2021 when they lost 2-1 to Italy at Wembley in the Euro 2020 final.
Following news of Venables’ passing, Gascoigne paid tribute in typical Gazza fashion. The ex-midfielder, who worked under the former at Tottenham from 1988-91 in addition to England, posted a picture of Venables with a cup of tea in his hand.
He captioned the upload: "Such a sad day, cheers boss xxxx," having built up a special relationship which extended far beyond the pitch.
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