GERMANY 2-1 CZECH REPUBLIC

“Germany against England was the real final of Euro 96.” So said Franz Beckenbauer in a piece published on the morning of the final – hardly motivational, but the Germans did have historical wrongs to right, 30 years after losing a Wembley final, 20 years after losing a Euros final to Czechoslovakia, and four years after Berti Vogts’ side had been shocked by Denmark in the 1992 showpiece.

Vogts was down to the bare bones. Without Jurgen Kohler, Mario Basler, Steffen Freund, Fredi Bobic (all injured), Stefan Reuter and Andreas Moller (suspended), he was allowed to fly in Jens Todt as a 23rd squad member. The Czech Republic turned down this luxury: they had three players returning from bans and one, Vladimir Smicer, from his midweek wedding ceremony at Prague’s Old Town Hall.

Having defied pre-tournament odds of 80-1 and eliminated Portugal, Italy and France, Dusan Uhrin’s team remained nerveless and went ahead after a disappointing first hour. Karel Poborsky darted onto a long ball from forward Pavel Kuka and fell just far enough over Matthias Sammer’s challenge to win a penalty, duly converted by Patrik Berger.

Incensed by the incorrect decision, Sammer took his Dortmund team-mate’s opener as a personal affront, gloriously Beckenbauering around the place en route to the Player of the Tournament award, and later the Ballon d’or for 1996. Meanwhile, Vogts desperately threw the dice – and heeded his wife’s advice.

Before the tournament, Frau Monika had urged Berti to “take Oliver Bierhoff... he will repay you”. Not every German was convinced by the ‘rich kid’ (Bierhoff’s father, Rolf, was a goalkeeper-turned-ceo of a large energy provider) who had considered quitting football at the age of 21, having by his own admission been “jeered out of the Bundesliga” in 1990. History writes its own narratives, however, and four minutes after replacing Mehmet Scholl, the Udinese striker was nodding home Christian Ziege’s free-kick.

Five minutes into extra time, he made wider history with senior football’s first Golden Goal. Bierhoff had nodded Thomas Helmer’s long ball in the general direction of a half-fit Jurgen Klinsmann, and received the return with his back to goal near the penalty spot. At this point, fellow substitute Marco Bode claims a director’s assist. “I was standing behind Bierhoff and I told him what to do,” he tells FFT with a grin. “Normally he used his right foot; I told him to turn the other way because there was space. Then it was just a lucky goal.”

Not half. Falling backwards, Bierhoff made enough contact with his swinger to hit a rising shot, which flicked off the calves of Michal Hornak with just enough diversion to bounce off Petr Kouba’s gloves and trickle inside the post. With Stefan Kuntz clearly offside if not particularly interfering, the linesman flagged... but referee Pierluigi Pairetto overruled him.

For a Golden Goal, it hardly shone, though the Germans cared not a jot. “It was really strange,” recalls Bode. “We were standing on the line, scared that something was going wrong – an offside or something. During those seconds, you couldn’t really believe that you’d won.” But they had, and the Queen, seeing her first match since the 1966 final (glory-hunter), handed Klinsmann the Henri Delaunay Trophy.

There ended Euro 96, although its half-life goes on. The Three Lions got their semi on via two and a half decent performances, to make their Euro 96 more a clip-reel of memories than consistent marvellousness. Yet still it fascinates across generations.

As Terry Venables, who tried to drag England out of the dark ages of insular parochialism, put it: “Football’s been underrated for what it can do if we get it right. We’ve witnessed, even for a brief moment, how we can be in unity and what a wonderful feeling it is.” Here’s hoping for more of the same, as soon as possible.