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At the peak of Euro 96, as England joyously swept the Netherlands away, Darren Anderton was struck by something else about the occasion.<\/p>\n
It was one of those rare performances when a team were playing so well in a big game that he could actually stand back and savour it. The feel. The fans. The setting. The song.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat half-hour will always stick with me,\u201d Anderton tells The Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s usually so much pressure when you play for your country that you can\u2019t take any of it in. Normally, you\u2019re not 4-0 up in a European Championship game against Holland with 30 minutes to go. It was an amazing feeling. Under the lights, the emotion, the energy. The whole crowd singing \u2018football\u2019s coming home\u2019. I definitely felt myself humming along to it during the game. It was like walking on clouds at that point. It was surreal. An amazing feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a rare competition in many other ways, too. The football wasn\u2019t always spectacular but, crucially for any tournament\u2019s legacy, Euro 96 had as many \u2018moments\u2019 and lasting memories than any since Italia 90. That is what stood out for many of the 16 people, from eight different countries, interviewed for this piece.<\/p>\n Many used another word: \u201cspecial\u201d.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t just the English saying it either. Czech Republic and Croatia were playing their first ever tournaments as independent countries, and enjoyed national events of their own. Germany won. That raised one of a few dramatic ironies that only enriched England\u2019s great summer of football. Perhaps the biggest irony was how it started: a long way from home, with the same old downbeat stories from off the pitch.<\/p>\n That is the start of the story of Euro 96, a story that Teddy Sheringham says \u201cjust escalated and escalated\u201d. It is told here by those who experienced it.<\/p>\n England took a pre-tournament trip to China and Hong Kong, since Terry Venables wanted the squad to relax in a different environment. They relaxed a bit too much. On the flight over, a set-to involving Paul Gascoigne and a steward saw the pilot threaten to land the plane in Russia. During the trip, Gascoigne\u2019s birthday culminated in the notorious \u2018dentist\u2019s chair\u2019, where a player would lie back and have drinks poured into their mouths. <\/em><\/p>\n On the return flight, the hyperactive Gascoigne got what was for him a rare sleep. One player \u2013 Robbie Fowler claims Alan Shearer \u2013 woke him up with a slap, resulting in a commotion that caused \u00a35,000 damage.<\/em><\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> We had a little bit of bad press beforehand.<\/p>\n The Sun front page:<\/strong> \u2018DISGRACE-FOOL \u2013 look at Gazza\u2026 a drunk oaf with no pride\u2019<\/p>\n Howey:<\/strong> Look, we went out. It was Gazza\u2019s birthday and obviously we\u2019d had a few drinks. We got lambasted. Some it was justified. Some of it absolutely not.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> There was a real negative vibe around everything. I was just thinking \u2018oh my lord, this is shit!\u2019<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> We saw it in the Swiss squad and were saying \u2018wow, this is some preparation for the opening game, seeing the hosts getting drunk in Hong Kong\u2019. We thought we may have a chance here.<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> We didn\u2019t know how the supporters were going to take to us.<\/p>\n Davies:<\/strong> A lot of newspapers argued the players most involved should not be in the squad. That would have robbed us certainly of Gazza, probably Sheringham and one or two others.<\/p>\n Howey: <\/strong>Terry used it. \u2018It\u2019s us against them, we\u2019re all in this together, let\u2019s show everybody how strong we are.\u2019 If anything, it helped.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>Even on the football side, there was talk Alan Shearer shouldn\u2019t play because he hadn\u2019t scored for 12 games for England. Ridiculous! Venables told him \u2018you\u2019re my number-nine, I back you, you\u2019re the best goalscorer\u2019.<\/p>\n Howey: <\/strong>Alan didn\u2019t change. His attitude was the same.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> It was after that the enormity of it all started to sink in, and kind of blew you away. All the press attention, the training facilities.<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> The group was tough, too. We were thinking \u2018oh my God\u2019. We had Scotland and Holland \u2013 who Terry thought were the standard.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>I remember, during one training session, [assistant manager] Don Howe suddenly asking \u2018do you know what you\u2019re about to be part of? Do you know what an opportunity this is?\u2019 It made us start to think.<\/p>\n Group A: England 1-1 Switzerland <\/strong>(Shearer 23; Turkyilmaz 83 pen)<\/p>\n The Independent's<\/em> match report from Wembley<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> Getting to Wembley, I remember seeing knights on horses around the stadium, things like that.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> We didn\u2019t get to see the whole opening ceremony, but you knew it was going on. It all felt different. The nerves were something I hadn\u2019t experienced before.<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> There was a lot of pressure opening the tournament.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> It was a very special moment, playing in a game like that at a historic stadium like Wembley. A lot of pressure, of course, but even more pressure for England.<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> It was still an unbelievable occasion to be involved in, being the home nation, at Wembley, the noise from everyone getting behind us.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> People might have thought the small Swiss team was easy. We had other thoughts.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> We actually started the game brilliantly.<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> We create a half-chance, and you know if Al got a half-chance, there\u2019s no one better.<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> All of a sudden, Alan shoots, 1-0.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> A brilliant goal.<\/p>\n Howey:<\/strong> Al was off and running.<\/p>\n Davies:<\/strong> That was a classic example of Terry Venables\u2019 management, a pat on the back before the achievement.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> Shearer was in his prime, the best striker in England. He was hard to play against. Him and Sheringham worked very well, the way they moved.<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> We didn\u2019t have to work it out that much. Al was an intelligent player, an out-and-out goalscorer, our main man. It was just about moving myself around him, staying out of his way, and also making goals for him.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> Marco Grassi might have scored before half-time. He hit the bar.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> The second half starts, the pitch is sticky, it\u2019s boiling hot, there\u2019s a few stray passes, the crowd get anxious. We get anxious. It was so tense.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> We were still giving it a go, and trying. We surprised England with how well we actually played.<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> There was a lot of pressure, and I think that was reflected in the performance.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> They were at home, first game against little Switzerland\u2026 and it went the opposite way.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> I guess it was like Switzerland\u2019s Euro 96 final to play against us, to be the spoilers. It happens a lot in international tournaments. We just didn\u2019t expect it to happen to us.<\/p>\n Vega: <\/strong>I think the performance from England was average on the day. We went for it.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> The ball hit Stuart Pearce\u2019s hand. It probably was a penalty.<\/p>\n Vega: <\/strong>Turkyilmaz scores, a great moment.<\/p>\n Anderton: It turned into a disaster. It probably culminated in the game passing us by.<\/p>\n Vega: <\/strong>England was close to an embarrassment. We could have won it late.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>I remember coming off and thinking \u2018that\u2019s the worst game I\u2019ve ever played\u2019. We were allowed go home and see our families on the Sunday, but I remember being sat there in the room with Teddy when we got back, asking \u2018what happened? Who\u2019s going to get dropped?\u2019 <\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> For a first game, you can understand it, but it put the pressure right on for Scotland.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>we had a meeting, and Terry backed the players. <\/p>\n Venables to the squad:<\/strong> \u2018It happens, we lost our nerve. We should have been a bit mentally stronger, but you\u2019ve got to blank all that out. It\u2019s a tournament. It\u2019s not about winning every game 3-0 or 4-0. We\u2019re not getting carried away by the performance or the media or anything else. We stick together and go from here. I look around the room and I see a team that should go and win the tournament.\u2019<\/p>\n Group A: Netherlands 0-0 Scotland<\/strong><\/p>\n Group B: Spain 1-1 Bulgaria <\/strong>(Alfonso 74; Stoichkov 65 pen); Romania 0-1 France<\/strong> (Dugarry 25)<\/p>\n Group C: Germany 2-0 Czech Republic <\/strong>(Ziege 26, Moller 32); Italy 2-1 Russia<\/strong> (Casiragi 5, 52; Tsymbalar 21)<\/p>\n Group D: Denmark 1-1 Portugal <\/strong>(Laudrup 22; Sa Pinto 53); Turkey 0-1 Croatia<\/strong> (Vlaovic 86)<\/p>\n Stimac:<\/strong> As a generation, we grew up through very difficult times with the war going on in Croatia. We were waiting to be recognised as an independent country, so didn\u2019t have the chance to participate in sporting competitions for four years. Euro 96 was massive for us, for our proud nation and our people who suffered for so long.<\/p>\n Smicer:<\/strong> It was the first time in history we represented only the Czech people, after the separation of Czechoslovakia. So we felt a little bit of pressure.<\/p>\n Bierhoff: <\/strong>Playing a tournament in England, the cradle of football no less, was something very special. The stadiums, the enthusiasm, the level of public attention. It all impressed us a lot.<\/p>\n Vega:<\/strong> Once you got into the stadiums, you could feel it. We were singing that fantastic song in the showers as a team within days, [starts singing] \u2018It\u2019s coming home!\u2019<\/p>\n Alfonso:<\/strong> It was just fantastic.<\/p>\n Cruyff: <\/strong>I was rooming with Dennis Bergkamp, who was playing for Arsenal. He got me excited for English football.<\/p>\n Ziege:<\/strong> As Germany, you always feel pressure to win the trophy.<\/p>\n Freund: <\/b>We didn\u2019t see ourselves as top favourites, but we knew it would be very hard for any opponent to beat us. Berti Vogts left out Lothar Matthaus, which caused some negative headlines and comments in the media. It was my first international tournament, though. I was excited.<\/span><\/p>\n Smicer: <\/strong>We just had the feeling \u2018don\u2019t do something really, really bad\u2019, because we had a difficult group, with two of the big favourites. A group of death. So we were real underdogs, and inexperienced. We felt we could lose all three games.<\/p>\n Stimac: <\/strong>We were going to England to win the tournament. We had great players \u2013 Davor Suker, Zvonimar Boban, Robert Prosinecki \u2013 and could play against the best with very exciting players.<\/p>\n Davies: <\/strong>The day after the England-Swiss match, I did Denmark-Portugal, which was no great game. I then went onto Newcastle and saw France beat Romania. Romania should have won. France had left out Eric Cantona and David Ginola despite wonderful seasons in England.<\/p>\n Fan banner at St James\u2019 Park: <\/strong>\u2019No Cantona, no Ginola, no support\u2019<\/p>\n Desailly:<\/strong> It was a new adventure for us, where we had to rebuild, and build experience. We missed the World Cup in the USA. The coach [Aime Jacquet] had to make some tough decisions, like leaving out Ginola and Cantona, but that was made easier by the emergence of Zidane. It was a time to think of the future.<\/p>\n Smicer: <\/strong>We had a good preparation, and thought we may have a chance against Germany. We had three or four players in the Bundesliga, like Patrick Berger. Germany might start slow, because it\u2019s the start of the tournament. There is always a chance for outsiders.<\/p>\n Bierhoff: <\/strong>We hit the ground running.<\/p>\n Smicer: <\/strong>We conceded two goals in the first half an hour.<\/p>\n Ziege: <\/strong>I scored an early goal and we kind of flowed.<\/p>\n Smicer:<\/strong> We showed nothing, and didn\u2019t feel good after that.<\/p>\n Stimac:<\/strong> That first game was the most difficult. Turkey was an unpleasant side, very physical. We knew being patient was important. Goran Vlaovic scored from a great counter-attack in the 85h minute, which released the pressure. Winning against Turkey gave us an extra confidence before facing actual European champions, Denmark. <\/p>\n Group A: Scotland 0-2 England <\/strong>(Shearer 53, Gascoigne 79)<\/p>\n The Independent's<\/em> match report from Wembley<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> The vibe was tense, but exciting as well because it\u2019s Scotland.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>It was the first time we\u2019d played them in years.<\/p>\n Sheringham: <\/strong>It was really all about getting the result, all the more so as it was one of the home nations.<\/p>\n Howey:<\/strong> It was a beautiful day, the fans really emotionally involved.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> You know it\u2019s going to be more like a Premier League game, but we knew it would suit us if it was a bit more of an international game. On paper, we had the better team and should beat Scotland nine times out of 10. As the week before proved, that doesn\u2019t always happen.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>It was another tense first half.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> They played pretty well. We weren\u2019t playing great.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>Shearer scores again, the goals are really flowing now.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> We were still trying to get our quality players like Jamie Redknapp on the ball to make things happen.<\/p>\n Davies:<\/strong> They had spurned a great chance at going level through Gordon Durie. That would have been a real tester for England.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>We\u2019d had a warning.<\/p>\n Seaman:<\/strong> Durie came through, and it was a blatant penalty by Tony Adams.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> I\u2019m thinking \u2018it\u2019s deja vu, a penalty again\u2019<\/p>\n Sheringham: <\/strong>It would have been 1-1 again, exactly like Switzerland<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>I was just thinking \u2018we\u2019re going to get battered again\u2019<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> We were nervous<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>If it\u2019s 1-1, we\u2019re right under pressure because we\u2019ve only got two points from two games before Holland.<\/p>\n Howey:<\/strong> It\u2019s a big moment, Gary McAllister stepping up, a good penalty taker.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>I had this little theory I used for penalties, that I always used to say was my special technique. It was all dictated by the way the player ran at the ball. I didn\u2019t watch videos, because the good takers change their sides. But nearly ever penalty taker you see, they put their head down as they\u2019re hitting the ball. That\u2019s when I used to go.<\/p>\n Davies:<\/strong> The ball appeared to move.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>I guessed right, but because Gary hit it so hard, I didn\u2019t have time to get my hand on it. So I just stuck my elbow on it. Luckily, it just flew straight over the crossbar.<\/p>\n Howey:<\/strong> We\u2019re punching the air on the bench, but they\u2019ve still got a corner.<\/p>\n Seaman: <\/strong>I got hold of the ball, and kick it out to one of the lads.<\/p>\n Howey: <\/strong>It all turns in a minute.<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> It was a long kick from David Seaman, I controlled it, laid it out to Darren Anderton. It was quite a nice move, a soft, flowing move.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> The ball\u2019s come out to me, I\u2019ve seen Gazza\u2019s run.<\/p>\n Sheringham: <\/strong>Darren\u2019s lofted a lovely floaty little ball into Gazza\u2019s path.<\/p>\n Anderton:<\/strong> You can see it coming. Colin Hendry\u2019s coming in and you\u2019re thinking \u2018go on then, flick it, flick it\u2019<\/p>\n Sheringham:<\/strong> He\u2019s flicked it up in the same flowing manner.<\/p>\n Anderton: <\/strong>He does it.<\/p>\n Sheringham: <\/strong>He struck it beautifully.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/thumbnails\/image\/2020\/05\/06\/13\/england-fans.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/thumbnails\/image\/2020\/05\/06\/13\/germany-win.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe interviewees<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Teething problems<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nEngland start to throw it away\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nGuests arrive, the party begins<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nCenturies of rivalry, 90 seconds of change<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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