1996: Was this the last time we were excited about England?
22 YEARS AGO, TERRY VENABLES’ ENGLAND DEMOLISHED HOLLAND 4-1 AT WEMBLEY IN THE EURO CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS... HERE THE PLAYERS RECALL THAT GLORY NIGHT
DAVID SEAMAN has always savoured the night England took Holland’s clockwork Orange apart at Euro 96 as revenge for Ronald Koeman’s great escape.
Three Lions legend Seaman was in goal when new Dutch manager Koeman should have been sent off in Rotterdam – and then his free-kick knocked England out of the World Cup minutes later.
The travesty forced England boss Graham Taylor to resign and his anguish was laid bare in a TV documentary.
Dear old ‘Safe Hands’ took extra satisfaction from England’s 4-1 win at Wembley three years later, when Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham both scored twice.
Seaman, who won 75 caps and was a three-time title winner with Arsenal, said: “I wouldn’t say we were cheated as such, but we did not get a fair crack of the whip in Rotterdam. We were not treated properly.
“Everyone except the referee thought Koeman should have gone, and when he bent that free-kick past me, you knew the gods were not going to smile on us. That was a decisive moment and did a lot of damage to English football, which made it even sweeter when we got a bit of payback at Euro 96.”
England had stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Switzerland, and seen off auld enemy Scotland 2-0 – thanks in no small measure to Seaman beating out Gary McAllister’s penalty – before the group decider.
Terry Venables’ side unfurled a swaggering display and Seaman revealed: “Whenever we used to get together in the build-up to the tournament, Terry would always make us watch videos of Holland.
“I think we started doing that before we even knew they were in our group, and we were wondering, ‘What is all this about?’
“But Terry wanted us to learn from the way Holland played, and when Euro 96 came round we knew our game against them would be crucial.
“It was nailed into us that it could define our whole tournament – and in many ways, it did define us as a team. Some would say it was the best England performance of the last 25 years, and I wouldn’t argue with that.
“We had points on the board from our first two games, but there was a lot of pressure on England to deliver.
“It would have been horrendous for us to get knocked out in the group stages at our own party, but against the Dutch we were right on it.
“I remember us going in front and then I was one-onone with Dennis Bergkamp in the first half.
“Fortunately, I had been in that position dozens of times in training during his first season at Arsenal, and I had a fair idea of what he might do.
“He went down my left side, I managed to get a really good hand to it and, when the immediate danger had gone, I gave him a little wink to say, ‘Not this time, Dennis!’
“But we played so well – it was an unbelievable performance. Shearer and Sheringham just seemed to bury every chance that came their way.
“And the cherry on top was the goal Holland scored near the end – which sent them through and knocked Scotland out on goals scored.
“It’s not often an Englishman feels sorry for Scotland, and we weren’t going to start that night!”