1996: GERMANY HAUNT HOSTS

EURO 1996

ENGLAND

GERMANY 2-1 CZECH REPUBLIC

Euro '96 was meant to be the tournament when England shook themselves out of the 30-year slump they had endured since the 1966 World Cup and again scooped silverware on home soil. It ended in painfully familiar style: defeat to Germany.

After opening draws, England and Scotland locked horns in a famous 'derby' at Wembley, in which David Seaman and Paul Gascoigne were England's heroes.

The former saved a Gary McAllister penalty; the latter scored a remarkable solo effort, capped off with a tabloid-mocking celebration that aped the infamous 'dentist's chair' incident that took place in a Hong Kong nightclub before the tournament.

Things went from good to better for the host nation when they race into a scarcely believable 4-0 lead over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert's late reply was more than a consolation: it sent the Dutch through at Scotland's expense.

Group B saw France and Spain progress at the expense of Romania and Bulgaria's East European flair, while Group C threw up a massive surprise.

SACCHI ITALIANS PAY FOR COMPLACENCY


After beating Russia, Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi rested several key players against the Czech Republic and paid the price.


Goals from Pavel Kuka and Radek Bejbl, and a remarkable last-gasp miss by Pierluigi Casiraghi, handed the Czechs a shock 2-1 win.


A 90th-minute Vladimir Smicer equaliser helped Dusan Uhrin's unfancied side survive a Russian onslaught to salvage a 3-3 draw, and they joined Germany in the quarter-finals. Italy were out, and Sacchi paid with his job.

It was a fantastic achievement for a Czech Republic team playing its first tournament since splitting from Slovakia.


"We certainly had a magnificent group of players who were proud to wear the colours of our National team," reflects playmaker Pavel Nedved.

"That was the key: Pride - in representing our country. It was our performance against Italy that set us on the road towards the final."

DENMARK HIT BY SUKER PUNCH


Holders Denmark came undone in Nottingham, destroyed by the brilliance of Davor Suker who sealed a 3-0 victory with an extraordinary late chip over the bewildered Schmeichel. Croatia joined Portugal in the latter stages.

Croatia's reward was a quarter-final date with the favourites, in which they gave Germany a real fright. It took a vital header from the majestic Matthias Sammer to seal a narrow 2-1 victory.

"All together, I believe we showed in this game that we had the necessary calmness and that we knew that we were physically strong," said Sammer.

"And in the end... of course we won." Of course they won; they were Germany.

Karel Poborsky scored the goal of the tournament, and earned a move to Manchester United, with an astonishing lob for the Czech Republic against Portugal.

The 100-1 outsiders were in the last four, where they played France, conquerors on penalties of a disappointing Dutch outfit.


A dreary 120 minutes, and more spot kicks. Reynald Pedros saw his kick saved, and Kavalec put the Czech Republic, incredibly, into the final.

SPOT-KICK AGONY


Next was the small matter of yet another Anglo-German summit with England spurning classic red for controversial grey shirts. The shirts were the only dull thing about a pulsating game.

Alan Shearer headed the hosts ahead early on, before Stefan Kuntz lived up to his name by dashing English hopes of a normal-time triumph.

Then to 30 minutes of golden goal tension, and two fantastic opportunities for England to slay their nemesis; Anderton hit the post, Gascoigne's pace deserted him with the goal as his mercy, and it was penalties again.

Five expertly-taken kicks each, and England were running out of set-piece takers. Gareth Southgate stepped nervously up and scuffed into Andreas Köpke's arms. Andy Möller had no such trouble, and English hearts were broken again.

The suspended Matthias Sammer was happy to admit to the luck of the Germans: "We performed very well by achieving a score of 1-1 in normal time an then a goalless draw in extra time. A penalty shootout is always based on luck."

But was it lucky that David Seaman got nowhere near any of the six German kicks? "I have to hold my hands up that the penalties that the Germans took were really, really good penalties," conceded the England stopper.

An anti-climactic final saw the Czechs unable to pull off one final shock. Five minutes into golden goal extra time, Petr Kouba failed to hold Oliver Bierhoff's tame shot and looked on in horror as the ball spun in off the post.

The Queen gritted her teeth and presented Sammer with the trophy, but her mind was elsewhere. "Why on earth didn't Ince take that sixth penalty?" pondered Her Majesty. Two years later she would find out why.