WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOLDEN GENERATION?
England’s talented crop were tipped to bring home big honours during the decade, but fell short when it mattered most. FFT finds out why from those in the thick of a media frenzy starring fake Sheikhs, strikes and WAGS gone wild
Rudi Voller didn’t see it coming. Germany led England by six points in qualification for the 2002 World Cup – it looked all over. During the month reserved for the play- offs, Germany’s head coach had already arranged friendlies against South Korea and Thailand in preparation for the tournament itself. “I expect us to go through directly,” he stated, confidently. “If England go to the play- offs, I will keep my fingers crossed for them.”
Germany were about to host Sven- Goran Eriksson’s side at Munich’s Olympiastadion, and Voller’s confidence was natural: Die Mannschaft had beaten England 1- 0 in that rain- sodden last game at Wembley. In their most recent outing, they had thrashed Hungary 5- 2 – leaving the German press to laud ‘ the Sebastian Generation’: a crop of emerging stars led by the highly rated Sebastian Deisler.
The Three Lions, by contrast, had just been outclassed in a 2- 0 home friendly defeat to the Netherlands – a team that wouldn’t even reach the forthcoming World Cup. In Germany’s entire history, they had lost only one World Cup qualifier – a 1- 0 reverse to Portugal in 1985 with their spot in Mexico already secured. “England are not dreaming of scoring lots of goals,” suggested Bayer Leverkusen centre- back Jens Nowotny. “They will be very defence- orientated.”
How wrong he was. When Germany went 1- 0 up after six minutes through Carsten Jancker, they seemed set to mathematically confirm their qualification that evening. But then they were hit by arguably the most astonishing Three Lions display ever. On September 1, 2001, the Golden Generation was born.
David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Paul Scholes. All came together to tear Germany apart – Owen with a hat- trick, before Emile Heskey slid home to seal a sensational victory.
“It’s hard to put into words how I felt when I scored the fifth goal,” Heskey tells Fourfourtwo now. “It was so crazy. That’s the game that people still stop me in the street about. Germany had humiliated us in
our garden, but we’d taken it back to them. We’d gone into theirs and won 5- 1. We had some wonderful players, and everything just clicked.
“That game was the start of the Golden Generation,” continues the former Leicester City and Liverpool frontman. Manchester United were winning the Treble around that time, and the nucleus of the side was English players. We had stars, big names.”
Soon they would be accompanied by Frank Lampard, John Terry and Wayne Rooney, but they had already made the world sit up and take notice. “I’ve never seen a better England side,” said Franz Beckenbauer – and he had played against one that won the 1966 World Cup Final. Arsene Wenger tipped Eriksson’s men for potential glory in Japan and South Korea. “I can see them as champions,” he asserted.
“There was this feeling of hope,” Henry Winter, chief football writer at The Times, explains to FFT. “Germany had always been the yardstick for England. I went into a bar after that game, and German fans were applauding the England fans.”
Germany had to cancel their November jaunt to Asia, because they were otherwise occupied in a World Cup play- off with Ukraine. Thanks to Beckham’s 93rd- minute free- kick against Greece at Old Trafford, the Three Lions had topped the group on goal difference.
DON’T CRY FOR US, ARGENTINA
After his controversial appointment as England’s first foreign coach in January 2001, ex- Benfica, Roma and Lazio boss Eriksson’s first year in charge had won over the critics.
England had been unable to get out of their group at Euro 2000, but the placid Swede had given the players licence to attack and show off their undoubted talents, while improving them tactically. Predecessor Kevin Keegan had focused little on tactics, even falling asleep during a squad meeting on the subject.
“Sven’s CV spoke for itself, so he gathered respect within the dressing room straight away,” says Heskey. “He was very organised. When we went on the pitch, everyone knew their job and I enjoyed that – then on top of that, you could be spontaneous when you received the ball. We were prepared for what the opposition were going to throw at us.”
Wembley’s closure meant England took home matches around the country, which in itself brought enthusiasm that perpetual fixtures at the national stadium rarely did. Between 2001 and 2004, games were played at Old Trafford, Anfield, Pride Park, St James’ Park, Elland Road, St Mary’s, Upton Park, the Stadium of Light, the Riverside Stadium, Villa Park, the City of Manchester Stadium, Leicester’s Walkers Stadium and even Ipswich Town’s Portman Road.
Gerrard and Gary Neville missed the 2002 World Cup through injury, but Beckham battled back from a broken metatarsal – converting his penalty against Argentina to banish the ghosts of 1998.
“We were in the Group of Death – we had to beat Argentina,” recalls Danny Mills, who started every match of that tournament in Neville’s absence. “The game was spiteful, after what had happened four years earlier with Diego Simeone and Beckham. Argentina were among the favourites for the tournament, but our game plan was so meticulous.
“Every single Argentina player refused to swap shirts afterwards, and there was spitting going on. When we got back to the dressing room, it just erupted – all of those players who’d had frustrations from 1998. Even Sol Campbell, who was generally pretty reserved, was shouting and screaming. Emotions poured out.”
Racing into a 3- 0 half- time lead against Denmark in the last 16, the Three Lions were on their way to a quarter- final meeting with Brazil.
“WE WERE PLAYING WELL – YOU START TO THINK, ‘ BEAT BRAZIL AND WE COULD WIN THE WORLD CUP. I MIGHT GET KNIGHTED!’”
“We were playing quite well – you start to think, ‘ If we beat Brazil, we could win the World Cup’,” admits Mills. “You start giggling to yourself, thinking, ‘ No, surely not... I might receive a knighthood!’ You get silly about it. But the Brazil game didn’t go our way.”
Despite being hampered by a hamstring injury, Owen put England in front after 23 minutes, only for Rivaldo to level in first- half injury time. When Ronaldinho’s free- kick embarrassed David Seaman, England’s dreams were over – even though the match- winner was sent off with more than half an hour remaining.
“Even with 10 men, they kept the ball better than us,” laments Mills. “It was 38 or 39 degrees, and we were exhausted. I was so dehydrated afterwards that it took me three and a half hours to have a wee in the drugs testing room. It was me, Rio, Ronaldinho and Cafu sat in a room together. Ronaldinho was messing about, laughing and joking – I was thinking, ‘ I’m going to smack him in a minute’.”
For Heskey, the Brazil defeat in Shizuoka stands as a reminder that however talented England were, they could never have been expected to dominate tournaments during that era.
“We talk about the Golden Generation, but I believe France had the Golden Generation,” he claims. “Just in my age group, they had Henry, Anelka, Trezeguet, Gallas, Silvestre and Sagnol – then you add Zidane, Vieira, Petit, Desailly, Thuram, Barthez and Lizarazu. So who really had the Golden Generation? That Brazil team in 2002 had Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho – three Ballon d’or winners upfront.” More frustrating was the fact that Brazil’s opponents in the final would be Germany – the team England had thrashed less than a year earlier.
The Three Lions would soon be boosted by the arrival of a teenage Rooney, however, and a place at Euro 2004 was theirs if they avoided defeat in their last qualifier against Turkey in Istanbul. Then came the mother of all media storms.
JUDGE, JUR Y… AND G- NEV
A month earlier, Ferdinand had missed a drugs test scheduled to take place at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground. Forgetting the appointment, he went shopping instead, before passing the test a day later. With an investigation ongoing, the FA excluded him from the squad to face Turkey. United team- mate Gary Neville encouraged his England team- mates to go on strike if the central defender was not immediately restored to the side.
“You’re being judge and f** king jury,” Neville told Mark Palios, who had recently taken over as FA chief executive following Adam Crozier’s departure. “You’ve come in and wanted to make a point for yourself, the new sheriff in town.”
At Sopwell House in St Albans, the squad’s base before travelling to Istanbul, the Turkey match and England’s place at Euro 2004 began to look in real doubt. Players were called into a meeting.
“At that stage, no one really knew what had gone on,” reveals Mills, “but Neville spoke and said, ‘ The FA aren’t allowing Rio to play – he has missed a drugs test; he’s failed to have a piss, that’s all it is’. The next morning, there was another meeting. The Manchester United players stood up, led by G- Nev, and called for strike action.
“I was like, ‘ Go on strike? What, not play for our country? Why?’ Rio had done something wrong. Gary got up and said, ‘ We’re all going to vote – are we going on strike, yes or no? Everyone put your hands up’.
“That made me incredibly uncomfortable. There were a lot of young lads in the squad. A few players put their hands up, but I think Gary’s