Spirit of ’96 to spur Southgate’s men to glory?
FOR many, Euro 96 will always be remembered as a special tournament. And with football about to come home again – albeit as one of 11 host nations – I simply can’t wait.
I remember watching the matches in ’96 with my friends in bars, at home, and on the big screen, jealous of those in the old Wembley and feeling despair as England were knocked out in the semi-finals by Germany.
Determined not to miss out on future tournaments we joined the England Supporters Club and spent the next seven years travelling the world to watch the Three Lions.
From Liechtenstein to Sapporo, it was an amazing time. But all good things must come to end and, as family life took over, one by one we all stopped going. That is until I got the bug again after the 2018 World Cup in Russia when we again reached the semi-finals only to miss out to Croatia in extra time.
The coronavirus pandemic has skittled my hopes of getting tickets to the Euro 2020 group games, but I do have tickets to the final if England make it.
Most of the host nations have had to significantly reduce capacities due to social distancing, though Budapest aims to host 100 per cent of the stadium capacity, but with strict stadium entry requirements for fans.
Nevertheless, after such a difficult period with fans being banned from grounds for much of the past 15 months, returning to some kind normality will be great to see.
One group of fans who will certainly make some noise at Wembley are England’s Group D opponents Scotland. For many, the match will bring back memories of Euro 96 when Paul Gascoigne scored one of the great goals at the old Twin Towers. England, packed with quality and emerging young stars like Jadon Sancho (left) and Jude Belingham, will fancy their chances of topping a group which also features Croatia and the Czechs, but Gareth Southgate’s side may wish to avoid a potential last-16 meeting with Portugal, Germany or France who lie in wait if they win Group D.
So can England go one better than Euro 96 and reach the final at Wembley on July 11? “It’s coming home” and fingers crossed I’ll get the chance to be there.