IT WAS DEJA VU for England at Euro 96 as their semi-final against Germany went to penalties – and England lost.
All that had really changed in the six years since England’s shoot out defeat against West Germany at Italia 90 was the name of their opponents.
Stuart Pearce, David Platt and Paul Gascoigne were in the starting 11 for both games. Platt scored in the 1990 shootout but Pearce’s penalty was saved, while all three men scored their spot kicks when the Euro 96 semi-final went to penalties.
David Seaman, Steve McManaman, Paul Ince, Gareth Southgate, Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton and captain Tony Adams were the other starters for England that day in a 3-5-2 formation – with Shearer scoring in the second minute and a Stefan Kuntz equaliser in the 16th minute enough to earn Germany extra-time.
At the old Wembley Empire Stadium, Anderton and Gascoigne missed glorious opportunities to score the extra-time golden goal that would have sent England through to the final, before the game went to penalties.
Manager Terry Venables decided against making any substitutions in 90 minutes or extra-time, so five of England’s starting 11 took penalties and Southgate was England’s sixth man in the shoot out.
Shearer converted the first spot kick and after Platt, Pearce, Gascoigne and Sheringham scored theirs to put England 5-4 ahead, Kuntz levelled at five penalties apiece to send the shootout into sudden death.
Southgate’s effort was saved by Andreas Kopke, Andreas Moller converted Germany’s sixth spot kick, and England were out.
But what happened next for Southgate and co?
DAVID SEAMAN
Position v Germany: Goalkeeper
Club during Euro 96: Arsenal
Age during Euro 96: 32
Number of caps reached v Germany: 29 (of 75)
ALREADY a First Division, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup winner with Arsenal prior to Euro 96, David Seaman went on to win more honours with the Gunners.
He played for England for a further six years, making 75 appearances.
The England goalkeeper won the Premier League and FA Cup double with Arsenal in 1998 and 2002 and won the FA Cup for a fourth time in 2003, and reached the UEFA Cup final in 2000.
He made more than 500 Arsenal appearances before joining Manchester City in 2003 and made 26 appearances in the 2003-4 season.
Seaman was awarded an MBE in 1997.
His ‘Safe Hands’ autobiography was published in 2000. He won the tv show Strictly Ice Dancing and competed in Dancing On Ice – and went on to marry his Dancing on Ice partner Frankie Poultney in 2015, his third marriage. He has four children.
The Arsenal legend appeared in the two ‘Harry’s Heroes’ television series in 2019 and 2020, and has played in all six Soccer Aid matches for England.
TONY ADAMS
Position v Germany: Centre of 3 centre backs
Club during Euro 96: Arsenal
Age during Euro 96: 29
Number of caps reached v Germany: 45 (of 66)
ARSENAL and England captain Tony Adams played for his country for four more years after Euro 96, making 66 appearances, and played for Arsenal – his only club – until 2002, making more than 600 appearances and scoring 49 goals for the Gunners.
He played for England in three different decades. Adams won four league titles with Arsenal, as well the FA Cup three times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners Cup – with two Premier League titles and two FA Cup wins coming after Euro 96.
He was awarded the MBE in 1999.
In September 2000, following his own experiences with alcoholism and drug addiction, Adams founded the Sporting Chance Clinic – a charitable foundation aimed at providing treatment, counselling and support for sports men and women struggling with drink, drug or gambling addictions. The clinic is supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Adams is a patron for NACOA (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) – a charity that provides information, advice and support for anyone affected by their parents’ drinking. He is also a patron for the School-Home Support charity, which helps disadvantaged children and young people overcome barriers to education including poverty and domestic abuse.
Adams went into management with Wycombe Wanderers in 2003 and also managed Portsmouth, Gabala in Azerbaijan and Granada in Spain.
In 2015, he underwent heart surgery after suffering from chest pains.
STUART PEARCE
Position v Germany: Left side of 3 centre backs
Club during Euro 96: Nottingham Forest
Age during Euro 96: 34
Number of caps reached v Germany: 70 (of 78)
STUART PEARCE stayed at Nottingham Forest for another year after Euro 96 and went on to make more than 500 appearances for the club, scoring 89 goals – before spells at Newcastle United, West Ham and Manchester City.
Typically a left back, Pearce was used as a left sided centre back against Germany in the Euro 96 semi-final in a 3-5-2 formation, with Steve McManaman at left wing back.
He played for England for another three years, making 78 appearances in total.
Two years after Euro 96, Pearce was involved in a serious car crash when the car he was driving was crushed by a lorry overturning and landing on the roof of the car. He escaped with only minor hand injuries.
Pearce retired as a player in 2002 and remained with Manchester City as a coach until he was given the manager’s job in 2005.
As well as playing for Nottingham Forest, he was briefly their caretaker manager during the 1996-97 season.
He went on to manage Manchester City from 2005 to 2007, England Under 21s from 2007 to 2013, and was Team GB manager for the 2012 London Olympics. He took charge of the England senior team for one game in 2012.
He managed Nottingham Forest from July 2014 to February 2015 and was assistant manager to David Moyes at West Ham during the 2017-18 season, returning as Moyes’ assistant at West Ham in August last year.
England were runners-up at the 2009 European Under 21s Championship while Pearce was in charge.
He has won the Premier League manager of the month award three times, in January 1997, April 2005 and August 2005.
His autobiography, ‘Psycho’, was released in 2001.
In 2016, Pearce briefly came out of retirement, signing a one-match deal with Gloucestershire-based side Longford, dubbed ‘the worst team in Great Britain”.
GARETH SOUTHGATE
Position v Germany: Right side of 3 centre backs
Club during Euro 96: Aston Villa
Age during Euro 96: 25
Number of caps reached v Germany: 9 (of 57)
ENGLAND’S current manager was an Aston Villa defender in 1996 – and also starred in a Pizza Hut ad later that year with Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle, as the ad poked fun at the trio missing semi-final penalties.
Southgate appeared in the ad with a paper bag over his head, while Pearce continually makes fun of him by emphasising the word ‘miss’ before telling Southgate: “Come on Gareth, it only took me six years to get over it”.
Southgate made more than 600 appearances and scored 35 goals during his time at Crystal Palace, Villa and Middlesbrough.
He won the Football League Cup with Middlesbrough in 2004 and was a runner-up with Middlesbrough in the 2005-6 UEFA Cup.
Southgate managed Middlesbrough from 2006 to 2009 before taking a break from football that lasted four years.
He took over from Pearce as England’s Under 21s manager in 2006 and was in the role for three years before a short spell in temporary charge of the England senior team earned him a four year contract as England manager.
A semi-final followed in his first tournament in charge – at the 2018 World Cup in Russia – and he became only the second England manager to secure back to back tournament semi-finals with the 4-0 win against Ukraine in Saturday’s quarter-final.
He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year’s coach of the year award in 2018 and was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to football.
DAVID PLATT
Position v Germany: Left sided holding midfielder
Club during Euro 96: Arsenal
Age during Euro 96: 30
Number of caps reached v Germany: 62 (of 62)
IN ENGLAND’S Euro 96 semi-final, David Platt and Paul Ince played in the midfield holding roles that Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips occupied against Ukraine on Tuesday.
Platt was the left sided holding midfielder, with Ince to his right in a five man midfield that included Paul Gascoigne as an attack minded midfielder and Steve McManaman and Darren Anderton as wing backs, with Teddy Sheringham sitting in the number 10 role behind Alan Shearer.
The Euro 96 semi-final was Platt’s last of his 62 England caps.
He played for another two years at Arsenal, winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in his last season.
His first role as a manager was with his former club Sampdoria. He then joined Nottingham Forest as player manager in 1999, but only made seven appearances.
He was England Under 21s manager from 2001 to 2004, then had spells as first team coach and assistant manager at Manchester City between 2010 and 2013.
Platt was manager of Indian Super League club Pune City during the 2015-6 season, and had a spell as manager of Palermo.
PAUL INCE
Position v Germany: Right sided holding midfielder
Club during Euro 96: Inter Milan
Age during Euro 96: 28
Number of caps reached v Germany: 23 (of 53)
PAUL INCE had already achieved a lot in his career prior to Euro 96.
He had been a player at West Ham and won numerous honours with Manchester United – and in 1993 he became the first black player to captain England.
Ince had already played for a season at Inter Milan prior to Euro 96 and stayed with the Italian club for another year after the tournament, before signing for Liverpool in 1997.
He was at Anfield for two years, and had spells at Middlesbrough, Wolves, Swindon and Macclesfield before retiring as a player – having made more than 700 appearances. He won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs with Wolves in 2003.
He continued playing for England until 2000, making more than 50 appearances for his country in total.
Ince’s first spell in management was as player-manager at Macclesfield in the 2006-7 season and, after a spell with MK Dons which saw him win League 2 and the Football League Trophy, he became the first black player to manage a top flight club in England with Blackburn in 2008.
He returned for another spell with MK Dons and also managed Notts County from 2010 to 2011 and Blackpool from 2013 to 2014.
PAUL GASCOIGNE
Position v Germany: Central midfield
Club during Euro 96: Rangers
Age during Euro 96: 29
Number of caps reached v Germany: 43 (of 57)
AS IN the Italia 90 semi-final against Germany, Paul Gascoigne was booked, but there was no suspension for the final and no tears this time – and Gazza converted his penalty to put England 4-3 ahead in the shootout.
He was named in the Euro 96 team of the tournament.
Gascoigne’s 10-year England career came to a close in 1998 in somewhat controversial fashion.
He had played in the 0-0 draw against Italy that secured England’s qualification for the 1998 World Cup, but England manager Glenn Hoddle was reportedly disturbed by tabloid newspaper pictures showing Gascoigne eating kebabs late at night with DJ Chris Evans, published only a week before the final squad was due to be chosen.
Hoddle decided not to select Gascoigne in his final squad and, after hearing the news, Gascoigne wrecked Hoddle’s room in a rage, before being restrained. He did not play for England again.
After three years at Rangers, during which he won the Scottish Premier Division title twice, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup, he joined Middlesbrough in 1998 and made 48 appearances in two seasons, and was part of the side that reached the League Cup final in 1998.
He joined Everton in 2000, but struggled with a series of niggling injuries and issues with depression and left Everton two years later, having made just 38 appearances.
Spells at Burnley, Chinese club Giansu Tianma and Boston United followed, but he only made a handful of appearances for each of the three clubs and after three months at Boston in 2004, he hung up his boots. It was reported that one reason he left Boston was because of their refusal to let him take part in ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here!’
In 2005, he spent two months as player-coach at the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United, but returned to England after a proposed contract did not materialise.
He was appointed as manager of Conference North club Kettering Town in October 2005 – and stated his plans to put in enough money to own a third of the club. But his managerial spell lasted only 39 days before he was dismissed. He was never on a contract at the club and was not paid for his six weeks work, and was not given the opportunity to invest in the club as he had planned.
Gascoigne was close to becoming manager of Garforth Town in October 2010, but decided to turn down the offer.
In 2006, Gascoigne visited Botswana on behalf of an FA international outreach week and played football with children.
He took part in the first edition of Soccer Aid in 2006, playing for an England team captained by Robbie Williams.
In 2009, he appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the BBC television quiz The Weakest Link, where he engaged in banter with host Anne Robinson. He played in an England versus Germany charity football match the following day, to help raise funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
In 2014, Gascoigne played amateur football after signing for Bournemouth Sunday League side Abbey.
He has dealt with a series of mental health, alcoholism and legal issues in recent years.
In July 2010, Gascoigne appeared at the scene of the stand-off between the police and the fugitive Raoul Moat. He claimed to be Moat’s brother and told police that he had brought him a can of lager, some chicken, a fishing rod, a Newcastle shirt and a dressing gown. He was denied access to Moat. Gascoigne sued The Sun newspaper, claiming that its coverage of him during the Raoul Moat incident had interrupted his treatment for alcoholism.
In October 2019, he was cleared of sexual assault, after he called the complainant a “fat lass” and told the court he had given her a “peck on the lips” to “boost her confidence”.
STEVE MCMANAMAN
Position v Germany: Left wing
Club during Euro 96: Liverpool
Age during Euro 96: 24
Number of caps reached v Germany: 15 (of 37)
STEVE MCMANAMAN was named in the Euro 96 team of the tournament – and was named in the PFA team of the year for the 1996-97 season.
He played for Liverpool for three more years after the Euro 96 semi-final and made 364 appearances, scoring 66 goals, before joining Real Madrid in 1999.
He spent four years in Madrid before finishing his playing career at Manchester City from 2003 to 2005.
McManaman won five trophies during his time at Real Madrid – La Liga in 2000–01 and 2002–03, the Champions League in 2000 and 2002, the Supercopa de Espana in 2001 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2002.
He became the first English player to win the UEFA Champions League with a non-English club in 2000, scoring in the final with a spectacular volley, and two years later he became the first English player to win the Champions League twice.
In 2006, McManaman was close to coming out of retirement to sign for Hong Kong Rangers, but the move failed to materialise due to recurring injury problems which led to him failing a fitness test.
He had five more years with England after Euro 96, making another 22 appearances.
In October 2013, it was announced that McManaman would take up a coaching role with Liverpool’s academy, a role he has continued since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp as first team manager.
Since 2006, McManaman has been involved in a number of film and charity projects and has served as a UEFA and FIFA ambassador.
He has also established himself as a media pundit, and together with former Liverpool team-mate Robbie Fowler, McManaman has invested in several racehorses through ‘The Macca and Growler Partnership’. Their most successful horse is Seebald, the winner of 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase.
McManaman has taken part in several testimonial matches with other former Liverpool players, and for the European Association of Former Players.
He was part of the production team for the film Goal II: Living the Dream (the sequel to Goal!) and appears in the film as one of the coaching staff.
In 2010, McManaman became an ambassador for UEFA in its Champions League Trophy World Tour and was UEFA’s sole ambassador for the 2013 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley.
He was named as a La Liga ambassador in 2018, and was part of Children in Need’s fundraising special episode of the game show, Celebrity Mastermind. He was part of a charity team that raised £34m less than three hours.
In 2019, McManaman was named as part of UEFA’s Euro 2020 official 48-man all star ambassador squad from 12 nations, alongside former team mates Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer.
Later the same year, he commenced his role as a FIFA ambassador with a visit to Cambodia.
DARREN ANDERTON
Position v Germany: Right wing
Club during Euro 96: Tottenham Hotspur
Age during Euro 96: 24
Number of caps reached v Germany: 16 (of 30)
ENGLAND FANS of a certain age remember Paul Gascoigne’s extra time near miss in the Euro 96 semi-final against Germany, but Darren Anderton was almost the hero for England before that.
With the golden goal rule at Euro 96 meaning first goal in extra-time wins, Anderton was presented with a golden opportunity to send England into their first ever Euros final, but saw his shot hit the near post with the goal gaping.
Anderton was just two years into his England career at that point and, although he was an England player for a further five years, he only made another 14 appearances for his country. He scored seven goals for England, including one of his country’s goals at the 1998 World Cup.
He made more than 300 appearances for Tottenham, winning the League Cup in 1999 and reaching the final of the same competition in 2002.
He left Spurs in 2004 and, after spells with Birmingham City and Wolves, he finished his playing career with Bournemouth, playing for the south cast club from 2006 to 2008.
Anderton had signed a new one year contract with Bournemouth at the start of the 2008-2009 season, which would have taken him past his 37th birthday, but announced that he would retire on December 7, 2008, the day after his last game for the club against Chester City. He signed off his playing career with the winning goal, a spectacular volley in the 88th minute, after coming on as a second half substitute.
Anderton worked as a studio analyst for Canadian network TSN’s coverage of Euro 2012.
In 2013, he was announced as honorary president of Arlington Spurs, a Tottenham Hotspur supporters club based in the USA.
TEDDY SHERINGHAM
Position v Germany: Number 10 / support striker (behind Alan Shearer)
Club during Euro 96: Tottenham Hotspur
Age during Euro 96: 30
Number of caps reached v Germany: 20 (of 51)
TEDDY SHERINGHAM was already 30 by the time Euro 96 came around and the semi-final against Germany was his 20th appearance for his country – but he went on to win another 31 caps.
He was in his first spell at Tottenham during 1996. He joined Spurs from Nottingham Forest in 1992 and spent five years with the north London club, before leaving to join Manchester United in 1997.
He won the Premier League three times with United, in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and was part of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble winning team in 1999. He scored a stoppage time equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, having come on as a substitute, and his headed flick on from David Beckham’s corner set up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to score the winning goal.
Although 1999 is remembered as a treble winning year for United, they also won the Intercontinental Cup later that year.
He was an unused substitute for West Ham in the Championship play-off final win against Preston in 2005.
Another spell at Tottenham followed and he also had spells with Portsmouth, West Ham and Colchester United.
During his time at Colchester, Sheringham was the oldest player in all four divisions of the Football League, and made more than 900 appearances in his career, scoring 350 goals. He retired at the end of the 2007–08 season, his career ending on a low note as Colchester were relegated from the Championship.
His individual achievements after Euro 96 included a place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in 2000–01, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year for 2000–01, FWA Footballer of the Year (2000–01), Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (2000–01), West Ham United Hammer of the Year (2004–05) and a place in the English Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
After his retirement, Sheringham played in various poker tournaments around the world. He made the final table in the €5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event in the EPT Vilamoura, finishing fifth out of a field of 384 players and winning €93,121.
He was awarded the MBE in 2012.
In May 2014, Sheringham was appointed as an attacking coach with West Ham United and, a year later, he became a manager for the first time with League Two side Stevenage.
He registered as a player, at the age of 49, for a Hertfordshire Senior Cup match against Welwyn Garden City in November, but did not play. He was sacked on February 1, 2016, with the club 19th in the league having collected only three points from their previous eight matches.
He was named as the new head coach of Indian Super League club ATK in 2017 but was sacked midway through the season after winning only three of his 10 games in charge.
ALAN SHEARER
Position v Germany: Striker
Club during Euro 96: Blackburn Rovers
Age during Euro 96: 25
Number of caps reached v Germany: 28 (of 63)
ALAN SHEARER was the Euro 96 Golden Boot winner with five goals. He scored his fifth goal of the tournament early on to opening the scoring against Germany in the semi-final, then scored his penalty in the shoot out.
He had an opportunity to join Manchester United after Euro 96 but chose instead to join Newcastle United.
Shearer spent 10 years with his boyhood club.
His final season saw him break Jackie Milburn’s 49-year-old record of 200 goals for Newcastle United when he scored his 201st goal in a home Premier League game against Portsmouth on February 4, 2006, becoming the club’s highest ever league and cup competition goalscorer.
On April 17, 2006, with three games remaining in his final season as a player, Shearer suffered a medial collateral ligament tear in his left knee during a 4–1 win at arch rivals Sunderland, in which he scored his 206th and final goal. He made more than 400 appearances for the club.
Shearer is the Premier League’s all time top goalscorer with 260 goals.
His 63 England appearances included 34 as captain. He scored 30 goals for his country.
In September 1999, Shearer scored his only England hat-trick in a Euro 2000 qualifier against Luxembourg to help England secure a play-off against Scotland. England won the game over two legs to qualify for the tournament.
In his final tournament for England, Shearer scored as England beat Germany 1–0, England’s first victory against Germany since the 1966 World Cup final.
England needed a draw against Romania in their final group game and Shearer scored a penalty, but Romania ran out 3-2 winners, England’s tournament was over, and so was Shearer’s international career.
Shearer decided against going into management after his retirement as a player – and rejected an offer of an assistant role with England’s manager Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup – although he was interim manager at Newcastle at the end of the 2007-2008 season, but was unable to prevent the club being relegated.
After his retirement, Shearer became a regular pundit on Match of the Day and has also been a regular part of the BBC’s teams that have covered the World Cups and European Championships from 2006 onwards, including the current Euro 2020 tournament.
Shearer was an FA Cup runner-up twice with Newcastle, in 1998 and 1999.
He was awarded an OBE in 2001 for his services to football and a CBE in 2016 for his charity work.
Shearer’s individual awards and goalscoring records include:
UEFA European Championship Golden Boot: 1996 (5 goals)
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1996
FIFA World Player of the Year – Bronze award: 1996
Ballon d’Or – Third place: 1996
Premier League Golden Boot: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 1994–95, 1996–97
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02): Domestic and Overall Player of the Decade, Domestic and Overall Team of the Decade, Outstanding Contribution to the FA Premier League, Top Goalscorer (204)
Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2011–12): Top Goalscorer (260)
PFA Team of the Century (1907–2007): 2007
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2021
Most goals in Premier League history: 260
Most Premier League goals in a 42-game season: 34
Most Premier League penalties scored: 56
Most Premier League goals scored from inside the box: 227
Most Premier League goals in a single match: 5
Fewest matches to score 100 Premier League goals: 124