Relief all round as fans steer clear of disgrace
Low-key performance on the pitch is matched by relatively docile display by England supporters in the stands
A languorous midsummer’s evening in Bavaria, with industrial quantities of weissbier on tap, created the optimum conditions for England fans to embark on a rampage. And yet, heeding a call by Gareth Southgate not to embarrass the nation, the 3,500 squirrelled away in the nosebleed seats of this vast stadium stayed unusually docile. Some shrill derision at the start Deutschland uber alles was about the worst they could muster.
It helped the mood that the welcome was so generous, the stadium announcer even acknowledging the Platinum Jubilee. It also helped that England’s players were too hapless to spark many gratuitously nationalistic chants, with a second flawed Nations League display adding to frustration towards Southgate. For half an hour, visiting fans had, in a nod to last year’s round-of-16 victory at the Euros, struck up the serenade: “We saw you crying on the telly.”
But when Jonas Hofmann edged Germany into the lead, the only tears shed here were by England supporters disabused of any superiority complex. Where a 2-0 win at Wembley had suggested the traditional balance of power was shifting, this match reverted for long periods to the mean, with Southgate’s side outpassed, out-possessed and outplayed. Momentum seemed to be ebbing away from this team just when it needed to be building.
That was until Harry Kane, with a late penalty after being bundled over by Nico Schlotterbeck, flipped the dynamic on its head. One minute, England fans had been in the mood to beat a glum retreat into the Munich night. The next, they were bouncing up and down so much that the steel of the building shook. God Save the Queen had not been sung with such gusto even on the Mall. The relief was that it did not spill over into anything more sinister.
It was about the one source of solace for Southgate, the knowledge that most hard-drinking England ultras had obeyed his command to behave. If anything, some of the worst excesses at the Allianz Arena were committed by the German support. Come the final whistle, a heap of detritus was clearly visible on the turf, the result of some fans hurling projectiles every time an England player took a corner.
Not that the guests distinguished themselves with saintliness either. Only a few hours before, two had been arrested for making Nazi salutes in the city centre. It is one of the grisliest characteristics of the moronic minority who follow England abroad, this obsession with the Third Reich, invariably among young men born at least 50 years after the Second World War ended. The repugnant absurdity of it all is heightened by the fact that two of England’s players, Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham, moved to Borussia Dortmund at 17 to enhance their talents and broaden their minds.
A combination of rank jingoism and violent disorder has already incurred a price for this England team. On Saturday, they will contest their game against Italy at Molineux behind closed doors, an indignity to punish the lawless, ticketless mob who disfigured the Euros final. The threat of retribution is only likely to become more intense this year. Should any supporters feel tempted to smuggle cocaine into Qatar at the World Cup – a feat witnessed in abundance at Wembley 11 months ago – they have been warned by security officials that they could ultimately face the death penalty.
For this confrontation, Munich police were taking no chances. The “ring of steel” approach was no idle threat, with 700 police officers exercising an order to “deal firmly” with anybody drunk, disorderly or intent on bringing drugs into the venue. There was a particular emphasis on not allowing the game to be watched or alcohol to be consumed anywhere nearby. Where the Champions League final had been framed by scenes of urban warfare, with organised gangs in St Denis targeting the event for muggings of fans leaving, this was an evening when tranquillity reigned.
True, it did not bring the glory England enjoyed in this city in 2001, when they sprang a 5-1 scoreline on Germany. But with this draw, Southgate just about quelled any stirrings of public rebellion.
In the final analysis, England have taken a point in Munich when playing below their best: that is scarcely a calamity, given the anaemic performance they delivered in Budapest. The more complex question is what it all means for the World Cup. Eight months on from losing by four to their old nemesis on home soil, Germany, not England, marched on to the final in Japan. Southgate would be wise not to read too much into his players’ prospects in Qatar on this evidence. The most powerful consolation, surely, was that England did not disgrace themselves, either on the pitch or off.
A combination of rank jingoism and violent disorder has already incurred a price