A disconsolate Gareth Southgate was climbing a flight of stairs at Wembley when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. John Major was chasing after him. “You mustn’t blame yourself for this,” the Prime Minister said. “You will feel terrible for a while but it’s not your fault.”
It summed up how his life had changed. Seven months earlier, Southgate had never played international football. Then came a moment that would define both his career and his life. England and Germany were level after 120 minutes and after five penalties apiece. Up stepped Southgate, the man who felt too polite to say no. Andreas Kopke saved his spot kick, Andreas Moller scored his, Germany advanced to the final and the man who ended Euro ’96 holding the trophy and singing “football’s coming home” was Jurgen Klinsmann.
It is inescapable at the best of times, but especially now. Saturday is a quarter of a century to the day to that seminal semi-final. Euro 2020 is the first major tournament since then where Wembley has been among the host grounds. There has been a cathartic element to Southgate’s management of his country, taking England, in the World Cup, to a first semi-final since 1996, using meticulous preparation to win a first penalty shootout since the Euro ’96 quarter-final, when he was not needed to take a spot kick. Twenty-five years ago, his Aston Villa teammate Andy Townsend tried to console Southgate by listing the great players who had missed penalties in shootouts; Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Zico. Perhaps a footballing life will come full circle if his lesser England players beat Germany on penalties.
Or, indeed, if they beat Germany at all. The sight of Joachim Low's team trailing to Hungary in Munich on Wednesday may have prompted thoughts of the time a Michael Owen-inspired England beat Germany 5-1 at the Olympiastadion. Southgate was an unused substitute when England defeated Germany in the Euro 2000 group stages.
Yet the fact remains that Germany have prevailed in every knockout tie between them since the 1966 World Cup final. England produced outstanding performances in semi-finals in 1990 and 1996 but Germany won on penalties. England surged into a 2-0 lead in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final but West Germany ended their run as holders and Bobby Charlton’s international career. They drew 0-0 in the second group stage in 1982 but the Germans went on to reach the final. In 2010, Germany’s youthful side put the final nail in the coffin of England’s supposedly golden generation.
Fabio Capello was out-thought and his team were out-passed and outclassed in a 4-1 evisceration. Mesut Ozil exposed the failures of England’s historic reliance on 4-4-2. A youthful Thomas Muller scored his second and third international goals. England had a hard-luck story with a historic echo: a Frank Lampard shot struck the bar, rebounded over the line and back out again. Unlike Geoff Hurst’s second in the 1966 World Cup final, the goal was not given.
This could be portrayed as one of the great rivalries of international football, but results when it has mattered most since 1966 suggest it is instead one of the more one-sided. Since then, Germany have had more competitive rivalries with Italy, Argentina, France and Netherlands. England’s fixation with 1966 stems in part from the fact there has been no sequel during a time when Germany have won three World Cups and two European Championships.
For England, there have been horrible illustrations of how distant the days of 1966 are. They lost Gordon Banks and Martin Peters in 2019, Jack Charlton and Nobby Stiles in 2020. Only four of their World Cup-winning side are still with us and Bobby Charlton has been diagnosed with dementia. The teams of 1990 and 1996 have taken their place as the visible reminders of the past, even though each found their ambitions frustrated by German obduracy and excellence from 12 yards.
Southgate has become English football’s most eloquent ambassador, redefining patriotism without jingoistic references to world wars, but the statesman has to be a footballing strategist now. He could end Low’s long reign; given the draw thereafter there is the chance to take England to the sort of occasions that they rarely experience, but which Germany often do.
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GERMANY RATINGS: Manuel Neuer 5 – Could have done better with Hungary’s first goal after appearing to get his glove to the shot. EPA -
Matthias Ginter 5 – Incessantly whipped in crosses from the right-hand side, but to little avail. The defender was also out of position for Hungary’s second goal. Reuters -
Mats Hummels 7 – beaten to the ball for Hungary’s opener. Almost made amends minutes later after hitting the post from a German corner. Reuters -
Antonio Rudiger 6 – A mixed evening for the Chelsea defender. He made one or two excellent interceptions, whilst also looking very vulnerable on the counter. Reuters -
Joshua Kimmich 7 – The hosts’ most creative outlet throughout. His crosses from wing-back caused Hungary the most issues. Reuters -
Ilkay Gundogan 5 – Underperformed massively today. The City man simply wasn’t incisive enough with his passing. Reuters -
Toni Kroos 7 – His crosses weren’t quite as accurate as they normally are, but the German talisman never stopped trying to make something happen. Reuters -
Robin Gosens 6 – Couldn’t influence tonight’s game in the same way that he did against Portugal. A frustrating evening for the Atalanta man. Reuters -
Kai Havertz 6 – Lacked ideas, dropping deep to collect the ball only to frequently give it away. His tap in goal from Gulacsi’s mistake saved the Chelsea man’s blushes. AP -
Leroy Sane 5 – Drafted back into the Germany team to replace the injured Thomas Muller. Playing at Wing-back, Sane seriously struggled defensively, getting carded in the second half. EPA -
Serge Gnabry 5 – Lacked service in and around the box, with most of his touches coming from the Bayern forward dropping deep to receive the ball. He was unsurprisingly subbed off in the second half. Reuters -
SUBS: Leon Goretzka 7 – Scorer of the all-important second goal, his physicality and presence in the box turned the game in Germany’s favour late on. EPA -
Thomas Muller 6 – Added intensity to Germany’s play in the second half. AP -
Timo Werner 6 – Made a number of intelligent runs but was generally wasteful with the ball at his feet. EPA -
Jamal Musiala N/A – Started the move that led to Goretzka’s late equaliser. EPA -
Kevin Volland N/A – Retained the ball well in the closing stages. EPA -
HUNGARY RATINGS: Peter Gulacsi 4 – Enjoyed a tremendous first hour, but the Leipzig stopper arguably should have done better with both of Germany’s goals, particularly the first when he missed the cross. Not his best performance. EPA -
Loic Nego 7 – Provided excellent energy down the right, helping to ease the pressure on the Hungarian back-line. EPA -
Endre Botka 6 – Carded after just half an hour but stuck to his defensive duties pretty well overall. EPA -
Willi Orban 7 – Hungary’s captain was supreme until the closing stages, hurling his body at anything goal-bound. Will be very frustrated to have not got his side over the finish line. EPA -
Attila Szalai 6 – Solid off the ball and composed on it. The defender’s only regret will be that it was his deflection that helped take Goretzka’s shot past Gulacsi. EPA -
Attila Fiola 6 – Assertive going forward but arguably didn’t do enough to prevent Kimmich and Ginter from crossing the ball on the right side. EPA -
Andras Schafer 8 – The combative midfielder scored Hungary’s goal after persistent pressing of the German back-line. An excellent effort. Reuters -
Adam Nagy 7 – Tireless running in the heart of the midfield for Hungary. His interceptions helped supress the opposition for much of the game. Reuters -
Laszlo Kleinheisler 7 – Did a great job of shutting down Germany’s passing lines. Began to tire late on and was subsequently replaced. EPA -
Roland Sallai 8 – Whipped in a wonderful cross for Szalai’s opener. His work rate and tenacity kept the German defence modest. EPA -
Adam Szalai 8 – Scorer of the opening goal, his supreme header typified a wonderfully committed display. EPA -
SUBS: Szabolcs Schon 7 – Won the ball back high up the pitch for Hungary in the closing stages. EPA -
Kevin Varga 5 – Struggled to impact the game after replacing Fiola at Right-back. AFP -
Nemanja Nikolic N/A – Little of note to report. Reuters -
Gergo Lovrencsics N/A – Little of note to report. AFP
