Chapter 60
A Very British Day of Football
June 22nd was to be a really busy day in terms for those living across Britain for this was the day that England, Scotland and Wales were all to play on the same day for the hope that they could go further in this European Championship. The first game to take place would be a mouthwatering tie at Wembley in which England would take on the Welsh in what was to be in fact the Welsh's first visit to Wembley since 1975; the last season of the British Home Internationals in which Wales drew 2-2 on that occasions and this would be their first visit since the end of that tournament. That game was to kick off at three in the afternoon and then a couple of hours later at half past six in the late afternoon, Scotland would play at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium where they would take on the French in which pretty much everyone had put their money on France to win.
Regardless though, at least one Home Nation would be moving into the last four and the day was really to be a very British day of football for all concerned. At the start of that hot summer morning at their basecamp located in Bath (having since moved there from Scarbrough following them making it out of the group), the Welsh players had been training in the grounds of a rather fancy looking hotel that was owned by a fellow Welshman who had brought up his location to the FAW and who promised to treat the players and staff well. True to the gentleman’s name, the Welsh contingent were well looked after and often when the players trained in the field next to the hotel, they always had a crowd of curious spectators watching them train. Now it was the day in which Wales was to head to Wembley to face England for a place in the Semis.
It is said that it is a always an exciting feeling whenever a footballer, manager or fan is off to Wembley as it is the place you'd want to go at least once and within the team on that bus, a few of them such as Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, Dean Saunders, Ryan Giggs and even Vinnie Jones had all experienced Cup Final glory at Wembley, but yet a Welsh victory at Wembley was a rare thing, something that had not happened in decades and here was a chance to not only get one, but have long term bragging rights over the English of beating them, but also knocking them out as the host nation which was some extra sweeter for many of the Welsh players. When the bus travelled along the M4 and somewhere outside Reading, it was here that the players saw a row of about eight buses all overtaking them, and they were all filled with excited Welsh fans who were either banging on the windows to greet their players or wave their red dragon flags towards them with great excitement.
“Christ look at that,” Vinnie Jones muttered in amazement as the Welsh convoy travelled past them.
“There’s more!” Ryan Giggs, sitting near the back of the bus, called out and pointed to a fleet of cars behind them that had Welsh flags flying from their windows, no prizes as to guessing where they were all heading too as well. It really was an invasion of England by the Welsh with scenes that would have been common to have been happening from the Tartan Army; guess the magnet of Wembley attracted rival fans to come from far and wide no matter how their chances were of victory.
As they were all watching this quite incredible sight, Ian Rush smiled as he gave a wave back at a young child on one of the supporter buses travelling past before leaning forward in his chair to look back and see the rest of the Welsh flag draped cars following in pursuit for London. He had only thing to say to his teammates; “Amazing that, if that doesn’t motivate any of you lads here then God Knows what the hell would.”
A chorus of agreements of ‘hear-hear’ were heard around the bus, but while all the players and some of the staff were enjoying the spectacle outside of their windows, their manager Terry Yorath looked a nervous man. A lot was riding on this game and the weight of history against it, granted England’s rivalry with them was while historic was actually no longer that important as their rivalry with the Scots had taken over that spot, but with them having not played each other since 1984 it only seem to add to the tension to this clash and as the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Granted he was happy to see that his players looked excited and seemed to show no fear for this Quarter Final, he only wished that he shared their feeling of not having any fear. About an hour or two later and then getting into London while winding down the streets to find Wembley stadium, they were greeted with
more happy Welsh fans cheering them from the street sides with stories that they had taken over Trafalgar Square much like how the Tartan Army had always done so.
Then they all saw it; the famous twin towers of Wembley. Wherever it was a player’s first time or the hundredth time seeing that sight, it nonetheless filled the players with a sense of importance that they were going to play in yet another historic game to grace the pitch of Wembley. Now the previous excitement that was felt on the bus was replaced with a sudden feeling of seriousness, they all had a job to do for Wales…beat England and get to the Semis. No pressure there as they prepared for that afternoon kick-off on the 22nd June. The biggest game Wales had played in years.
Wembley in full voice just prior before the Quarter-final tie between England and Wales
---------
As Yorath shook hands with his English counterpart, Terry Venables, right before the anthems, there was a sense of occasion about this certain game and that wasn't the fact it was the opening game of the knockout phase. Over seventy-six thousand crammed inside Wembley to watch the game and Yorath looked over towards the away side where no less that fifteen thousand of their own supporters had made it out here and were doing their part to add to already such a cracking atmosphere and that wasn't including the utterly passionate rendition of
Land of my Fathers which would surely done enough to get this Welsh side to start this match on the right foot. After another handshake from the two Welsh and English captains, Ian Rush and Tony Adams respectably, at the centre circle along with the French referee, Wales would kick the game off and the match would begin.
Under a cloudy sky, it would be the men in red who looked very keen to start the game and England looked rather sluggish at the start that was only causing the Welsh to find themselves getting right into the English side's face. For those English journalists who must've thought that rather arrogantly the Welsh league was nothing more than a pub or tin pot league, they would've no doubt been feeling a chill up their spine in that moment that their previous thoughts about the league were starting to look rather foolish. In the ninth minute after much pressing from the Welsh, it would be the men in red that would win the first corner of the game and Barry Horne would run up to the corner flag to take this early opportunity for the men in red.
With a swing into the box, Seaman punched the ball over towards Platt who then tried to back pass it to Gascoigne, but his slack shot saw the ball roll near the feet of Ryan Giggs who knew that he had options around him with Dean Saunders on his left and Ian Rush on his right, but instead he decided to go at it alone and with a little sprint forward running past Platt, Giggs fired the ball towards to top right of the net, though Seaman dives the right way to save it. He plans to punch the ball out for another corner, however he only succeeds in accidently punching the ball in slightly the wrong direction in which the ball hits the underside of the crossbar before heading downwards to land over the goal line. To the horror of the English supporters around Wembley, Wales have taken the lead early on in this game.
Barry Horne during the opening minutes of the game
Scenes of the aftermath of that goal become memorable from a Welsh perspective; Seaman lying face down on the ground looking embarrassed, Giggs getting dogpiled by his teammates, the massive roar from the Welsh supporters in celebrations as well of TV pictures of the fans looking utterly euphoric at what has happened and possibly couldn't have asked for a better start in their long awaited return to Wembley. It is then a delighted Yorath smiles for the perhaps the first time that day as he jumps for joy and looks over the ranks of Welsh supporters at their end celebrating and he also can see on the many Welsh flags lying on the ground on the running circle that he can see in black lettering where they have all come from. Wrexham, Bangor, Cardiff, Newport, Newtown, Barry and Llanelli just to name a few as to where most of these supporters have all come from and Yorath hopes that the goal has made it worth while for the fans who made the trip out here.
However that opening goal would in fact only cause the English to wake up and start pushing the Welsh back too as in the fourteenth minute, Shearer nearly got a goal back for England as he sent a ball rocketing forward towards Neville Southall's goal which although the Welsh keeper was sent the wrong way, the ball would clip off Southall's leg and the ball would go out for an England corner, one that this Sheringham almost scored from a header but thankfully for Wales the ball went over the bar and out for a goal kick. As the first half goes along at quite a speedy pace, it's clear that England now mean business and Wales, despite taking the lead, can't seem to put a game plan together as England seem to give them no chance to add to their lead. It would seem that the opening Welsh goal seemed like nothing more than a fluke with the way the game is going.
Then in the twenty-sixth minute, Vinnie Jones accidently makes a stumble when trying to get a loose ball and seeing this, Gascoigne makes his chance to get it and the cheeky Geordie rips through the Welsh defence like it was made of paper and seeing that Mark Bowen tries to stop Gascoigne, the England player passes it over to his left in which Shearer gets the ball and with one simple strike, Shearer sends the ball into the bottom right corner in which poor Southall couldn't get on to it. This time, it is the mostly English fans in Wembley stadium that roar in delight for that England are back in this game and it's game on. For the Welsh, that opening goal did seemed just a little too good to be true.
Gascoigne before sending the ball over to Shearer prior to England's equaliser
While it's fair to say that with the amount of pressing that England had been doing since going behind early on, they did deserve the goal, but not like this when for the most part the Welsh defence had been doing a fine job in keeping the English attacks out. What happened there was nothing more than a case of either great teamwork from England, a moment of bad luck from Wales or both, either way, it was clear that this game wasn't going to be dinge like what some of the other games at this tournament had been. The frustration of losing their lead like was now getting to some of the Welsh players as in the twenty-ninth minute, Ryan Giggs would get the first booking of the game for a challenge on Sheringham when he made a rough tackle in which the French referee flashed the Welsh player a yellow card. The game was starting now to develop into something of a scrappy affair in which both sides seem to make silly tackles and challenges and the referee was finding it rather challenging to keep the game flowing, was the hype and history of this rivalry getting the best of the players?
In the thirty-fourth minute, Southgate would get a booking for a tackle on Saunders that sent the Welsh player tumbling over and his teammates and the fans crying out for action to be taking from the referee. The referee did act by booking the England player and awarding the Welsh a free kick some thirty yard away from the box and Ian Rush stepped up to take it. He curled the ball over an England defensive wall and for a moment as it dipped down towards the left, it looked as if it were going in and Wembley seemed to act like a vacuum in that moment, though it was released when the ball crashed on the crossbar and out for a English goal kick. Ian Rush places his hands over his mouth is shock as he knows he came so close to re take the lead again for Wales and that would've one hell of a free kick had it gone in. The first half was nearing a to a close and in the fortieth minute, Simon Davis would get himself a yellow card for a challenge on Darren Anderton on the left of field and now England had a free kick from quite a good angle on the left of the field some twenty-five yards away from the box.
Gascoigne went up to take it and much like Ian Rush's attempt, it curled over the box and was heading towards the top right corner of the goal, though one difference happened here compared to Rush's attempt...the ball hit the corner and bounced into the back of the net. The talented England maestro had pulled off an stunning free kick that had helped turned the game on it's head; from 1-0 down earlier, England were now leading 2-1 right before the break and what a time to get it. The English supporters roared in delight as Gascoigne celebrated sliding on his knees while punching his fist to the crowd. The Welsh players could only look on in disbelieve at what had just happened, they were on such a high earlier and now they felt they'd gone crashing rock bottom now, all in under 45 minutes.
England manager Terry Venables shouting out orders to the team during the first half
That moment in itself does show that Football can be so cruel at times and on the Welsh bench, Yorath looked over to Venables who looked utterly delighted at how well England had responded before standing near the edge of his box and barked orders to his players to not give up hope yet as they still had a few minutes to sneak something here while yet another forty-five minutes to play yet. However the second goal seemed to energise the men in white as they now utterly battered the shell shocked Welsh players who were now all on damage control as they tried to prevent England from scoring another goal as the game rolled into the dying minutes of the game. Ian Rush tried his best to help his teammates push back as he made a desperate move forward, but he wasn't the player he used to be and now couldn't seem to get himself forward as England now seemed to snuff out any attack the Welsh players might've had.
Thankfully for the Welsh, no more goals came in the first half as the referee blew for halftime though there was a brief scuffle towards the end between Vinnie Jones and Stuart Pearce over something that Jones had said to him during the game and the two hardmen found themselves in a heated argument that players from both sides got involved to try and break up the fight and what had actually happened and the crowd watching this might have thought they had entered into a boxing game. The argument though would come to nothing and it would be nothing more than a storm in a tea cup though that was the least of Yorath's worries. Now had to find a way to get his team back into this Quarter Final, those fans in the stadium and the millions watching over the border to the west all deserved better. Now it was time for him to put his credentials as a manager to show what he could do to help turn his side's fortunes around...
---------
As the second half started, the game turned into quite an open one as both sides seemed to have a sort of freedom about them as they played, almost if neither had anything to lose. One thing was important that if England got another goal, it would surely be game over, however if Wales scored...then who knows just how this game was going to turn out? In the forty-seventh minute, Gary Neville would get a yellow card (a lot was now being shown in this game) for a coming together with Vinnie Jones and for one of the rare times whenever Jones played in a red jersey for Wales, he was the innocent one here as he did nothing wrong. Though he did give the England player a dirty glare and mouthed something to him like, 'I'll see you after this game' to him. Wales would make a substitute in forty-ninth minute when Jeremey Goss was brought off and replaced with Right Winger Jason Bowen to take his place, clearly this was a plan from Yorath to bring in more firepower for his side to get something from this.
However in a rather silly circumstances when he kept going after the offside flag had been risen and the whistle had been blown, he was the latest player to get booked and the English supporters all got a right kick out of that seeing him do something rather foolish. That all being said, Wales did start to look quite tight weren't going to let England get on the ball easily and from the Welsh end at Wembley, there was a sense that something could be up for them. In the fifty-sixth minute, Wales' tight play seemed to pay off as on the right flank of the field nearby the English box, Ian Rush lobbed the ball over towards the box where Bowen managed to get it before back passing it towards Dean Saunders, situated in the box, who found himself surrounded by Southgate and Tony Adams coming right at him, but what followed was a moment of Welsh wizardry as when the two English defenders came at him, Saunders pulled off a Cruyff turn on them and when they were caught at, Saunders slotted home the ball that went into the top right corner of the net that Seaman was too late to get at.
To the shock of the English and the delight of the Welsh, Wales were back in the game thanks to Saunders pulling of one of the goals of the tournament and the big screen at Wembley read England 2 - Wales 2. What a game this was turning out to be. The English players quickly though get back into the game and there is a feeling of that this Welsh side just won't lie down so easily, great for the Welsh fans and neutrals watching but utterly annoying from an English mindset. However in the (rather appropriate, at least from a Welsh mindset) sixty-second minute, Wembley held it's breath once again as Mark Hughes powered forward to out run Tony Adams and looked set to make it 3-2 for Wales and complete a dramatic turnaround but only sadly ended up hitting the side net and a wonderful chance for Wales to take the lead would pass. Nonetheless, Yorath was pleased at his side's performance in getting back at the English.
Saunders celebrates his goal that makes the score read 2-2
Both sets of supporters, while the game was being played, tried to out do each other with viewers watching TV and those listening to radios would've heard the fans going back and forward with the England fans singing
Sweet Chariot (popular for the rugby team and only now being used by the football support) and the Welsh responding back with
Men of Harlech, almost acting like in the film
Zulu funnily enough. The players though, whatever they might've thought of it couldn't think about it for long as they had a game to play and with time slowing creeping by, neither side wanted this game to go into extra time or penalties, the latter being something that the Welsh didn't want to go through again. However the game was now starting to play back into England's hands as they battled to try and find the winning goal and weren't going to stop until they did.
The Welsh players were now fearing like towards the end of the first half, the English came back at them with a goal to take the lead before the break, they didn't want that to happen yet again. In the 72nd minute, England after pressing forward were awarded a corner (their forth of the whole game). It was here when after Platt sent the ball into the penalty box, Shearer got his head onto the ball and despite Southall's best efforts, the ball would slam under the cross bar and hit the underside of the net to give England the lead once again and Shearer ran off in celebration over his goal. Now it was 3-2 to England and few wondered just how Wales were going to get back into this game now? Wembley was now starting to feel like a fortress again and England, with the backing of their large support seemed set to win this game and Wales' brief joy at the equaliser had been cut short once again.
The game itself was turning into a classic of Euro '96 and with the goals and drama in this game, it did feel like it was worth the wait to see these old football rivals come together after all these years. England kept pressing forward to find a forth goal that would surely help them win the game but Wales keep themselves together at the back and playing tight in order to prevent the winning side try and beat them. Seeing this problem they were having, in the seventy-fifth minute, Yorath would make a double switch with both Barry Horne and Andy Legg to come off for Kit Symonds and Chris Coleman to take to their place in order to bulk up their defence and for the next few minutes after this swap, it seemed to work a treat as England couldn't seemed to break down Wales, though it was hard to think if that was really the case or that England had taken their foot off the gas and were now just drawing the game out.
Enjoying the moment, Shearer celebrates with the fans over England's third goal
However there was one more twist in the tale when in the 82nd minute, after a barrage of English attacks, Wales would break forward with Vinnie Jones lobbing the ball over towards Ian Rush who took flight with the ball down the left flank with a whole country roaring at him to find a late equaliser. Because by this point, nearly all the England team had been camped at the Welsh end of the field, Ian Rush had nobody marking him and from twenty yards from the box, he took fire at the goal with it surely to become 3-3...but Seaman got forward and it was only thanks to his right leg that the ball hit against it and the ball went upwards before landing on the roof of the net and keeping the score line at 3-2. England could breath a sigh of relief but for Wales, it was an agonising one as that would've been the only chance Wales could've had to take the game to extra-time.
Eventually the final whistle would blow and the English fans roared in delight that they had made it to the last four of Euro '96 but many would point out that the Welsh put up a fine show and in the end. It had been a tight game that might've gone either way and would be indeed a memorable game for either side to look back on. Perhaps more sad though was the look on Ian Rush's face as he swapped shirts with Shearer after the final whistle, not only was that chance his missed, he knew that this was his final tournament he'd ever be part of and after sixteen years playing for his country, this was it. In a rather cruel twist for Rush, he had said before he hoped to end his time for Wales at Wembley and in some ways, he had done that, though he had been thinking of the final and not the Quarter finals.
The Welsh players walked over towards their supporters who were all giving them a standing ovation for their brave performance and for making them all proud, but maybe more so for Ian Rush who now was in tears as they began chanting his name and starting singing
You'll Never Walk Alone, a song that always meant a lot for him at Anfield. He didn't want it to end, but this was it, the end of an era for Wales and how would they cope without him as the World Cup in France in two years time loomed? As everyone left Wembley and the Welsh players and fans headed home, just over two hundred miles to the north in Liverpool that late afternoon, another game was to take place that most British eyes would now turn to...Scotland vs France at Anfield. Could the Scots get past the soon to be hosts of the next World Cup and get to the last four? All would be known within a few hours time...
England players celebrate reaching the Semi finals of Euro 96
---------
Just a couple of hours after England and Wales' thrilling game at Wembley, the Scots would take on France and unbeknown to the many Scots that had invaded Liverpool that day, the organisers were privately happy that the Scots had got this far for good reason. One of the lesser liked memories of Euro '96 was the image of half empty stadiums that didn't included any of the home nations in them, something of which that didn't create a good image for viewers watching from the continent, either it was because of difficultly of getting tickets or maybe the reputation of England's hooligan problem had put fans off from traveling was hard to tell. Even with it being a Quarter-final, there weren't many French supporters in Anfield while the Scots had no trouble in filling the place up, though it was thanks to the Scots that the stadium was being packed out.
There had been many Scots that had managed to get tickets almost soon after their victory over Switzerland but yet oddly not that much to fill the place out, however many more thousands had made the trip south of the border without tickets hoping to find luck in getting tickets and to their surprise, they got more than they bargained for. When many ticketless Tartan Army supporters had gathered at the ticket turnstiles hoping to get in with a traditional 'pay at the entrance' idea, the organises had absolutely no trouble at all of letting many of them in to fill up the last remaining seats at Anfield which all helped to fill out the stadium. In the end, the Scottish support outnumbered the French 3 to 1 and the atmosphere was absolutely buzzing, just what the relief Euro 96 organisers had wanted, also in secret, they hoped the Scots could progress from here.
For many in the know, Anfield was no stranger to the Scots with for starters the great Bill Shankly as Liverpool manager for many years and there was the players that had become household names for the followers of the Reds such as Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen and Graeme Souness just to name a few. Even the national side and it's supporters were no strangers to area as for those older locals in the area would remember back in 1977 when Scotland played here against Wales when it was used as the latter's home ground in which the Scots won and qualified for the World Cup in Argentina the following year. Even that it wasn't the last time the team had played in the city as they had also played up the road at Everton's Goodison Park in that Semi-final against West Germany in 1966 in which they won 2-1 in a nail biting game.
Scotland manager Craig Brown prior to match starting at Anfield
It would seem that Scotland enjoyed a good record playing on Merseyside and now here was to be yet another game in the city and one they hoped to win once again that would send them into the last four. Speaking of Dalglish, he had been doing his part in encouraging the Scouse population to get behind the Scots, well, mostly the red half of the city, but nonetheless those who did were more than happy to cheer on the Scots though there was an equal number of them who were rather indifferent to the Scot's cause. When it came round for the teams to emerge from the famous Anfield tunnel, both sides were greeted by a deafening roar as looking round the Tartan cladded Anfield, it was clear that the Scots had already won the match on the amount supporters being here but yet as the game started, it seem that it was going to be France's night. However, there was one glimmer of hope for the Scots and that was that they wouldn't have to face Eric Cantona. The talented Frenchman had become a hero at Manchester United and was looking set to captain the French squad at Euro '96, however in the previous January he would be involved in infamous and well documented kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace supporter would see him banned for for eight months for playing football and worse was that he would never play for his country ever again. This was of course very good news for the Tartan Army to process for sure.
The early five minutes of the game were with the French as they pushed the Scots back into their own half and some cynics would think that the Scots looked well out of their depth in the knockout stage and that the victory over Switzerland seemed liked a mere fluke. It wouldn't be until the seventh minute in which the Scots did a run on the counter thanks to Durie, but who was brought down the French captain Deschamps who was quickly booked by the Spanish referee, Nieto. Nonetheless seeing Scotland trying to get something early in this game was one of great relief for the Tartan Army that it wasn't all going to be one way traffic in this game. From the Scotland bench, Craig Brown had been rubbing his chin in thought as he watched his side struggling to find their footing in the game.
He looked up towards McCoist up in the French half who had sadly done pretty much nothing in this game due to his teammates trying hard to keep the ball out of their own half as then in the tenth minute, Zidane fired a shot that Goram had to knock over the bar and give the French a corner, one that Karembeu nearly headered home but Goram managed to dive the right way to prevent the ball from going in. That attempt from Karembeu was however to the moment in which Scotland started to play more out off their half, helped by the backing of their large support trying to cheer them on to go for an attack as in the thirteenth minute, McCall launched the ball clear up towards McCoist down on the left French flank and the Scottish player made a mad dash with the ball in which he managed to find himself getting past Guerin and Lizarazu, a run that had most of the Scotland fans rising to their feet thinking that something might be on for something here.
Karembeu during the early moments of the game with Scotland, note France playing in their away kit
He would cross the ball into the French penalty box in which John Collins found himself running to try and connect the ball as it was flying right past the French goal. He tried to get his foot on it for what looked to be an easy shot, instead he must've missed it by a fraction of a inch and the ball flew out for a French corner while Collins and his teammates could only realise in despair at how close they had come to scoring, and the groan from the Tartan Army showed. What a chance to take the lead. It is interesting to think that after how well the classic 4-4-2 system had worked for Scotland in their last game with Switzerland, Brown felt that the formation he had been determined to use for anytime Scotland would play would likely get mashed up by the French if they played by that system so instead it was a surprise by many to see Brown deciding to go for a more continental 5-3-2 formation which some in the Scottish press had suggested would help Scotland do better.
But as the old saying went, if it isn't broke, don't fix it, and that was happening with Scotland who had looked unsure and disjointed as this new formation and what to do with it, in some ways it was a miracle that they hadn't gone a goal down with how much the French had been mauling at them. Thankfully after seventeen minutes of the game, Scotland eventually seemed to settle into a routine that while they might've not been going forward as much as they would've hoped for, they were starting to reduce the amount of chances the French were trying to get on the Scots. The previously mostly nervous Tartan Army began making a lot more noise to the point that the French supporters seemed to be drowned out by the constant singing and chanting by the Scottish crowd. In the twenty-third minute, McCoist fired an impressive volley from twenty-five yards out from the box that was flying into the top left of the French goal, but their keeper Lama managed to get his hand on the ball to knock it away and Scotland's first corner kick of the game.
Durie tried to header it home but instead sent the ball flying way over the crossbar, Brown would've been happy to see his side trying their hardest to create chances which was what they were doing, but sadly they weren't really taking them and he feared that they might be punished for such misses. In the twenty-seventh minute and to Brown's horror, that fear seemed to come true as France managed to break out on the counter down on Scotland's left flank thanks to Zidane and he was only managed to be stopped by Tom Boyd with a brilliant sliding tackle in which the French players cried for a foul, but the referee seemed determined to keep the game flowing and waved his hands for Scotland to play on. The game was now starting to become quite a surprisingly open game in which perhaps no one though might be possible with everyone thinking the French might pull it off.
Scott Booth acting as a shadow striker in a rare 5-3-2 formation for Scotland
As the first half headed towards the final ten minutes, it was like both sides were trying to see if the other would dare the other to come forward as chances were coming from both sides looking to find that opening goal to end this first half on a high. It felt that all twenty-two players were all going out for it and even though it was still 0-0, it was anything but a dull affair. However in the thirty-seventh minute, Scotland would win a free corner down on the left side of the French box which looked very tempting for the Scots to try and nick a goal here with McCoist going up to take it while he watched blue and white shirted players all moving about inside the box to try and be in the right position to collect the ball. McCoist would take it and the ball would end up being headed away by Blanc who sent the ball over towards Loko who immediately ran with the ball towards the Scottish half and it was then seen to the horror of all the Scots, it became apparent that nearly all of them had been placed within the French half and now their defence had been left woefully left open and there for the taking.
Perhaps in that moment most of the Tartan Army couldn't bare watch as Loko ran with, other than Colin Hendry hot on his tail, virtually nobody around him to try and stop the French player. He would make a long shot volley from just over the half way line inside the Scottish half and it was now down to Goram to act as a hero and try and help his country again. The ball was curling down into the bottom right of the Scottish goal and Goram dived into that direction when it must've felt like it had all gone in slow motion as the ball neared the goal. By the skin of his teeth, Goram would just get his hands onto the ball and held it close to him fearing like as if it were to suddenly try to wriggle from his grasp. He couldn't quite tell how long he lay on the ground for, but when he did stand up again, he was greeted with a rapturous applause from the Scotland fans in Anfield and even though he breathed a sigh of relief, TV footage showing close up shots of him would then show him angrily shouting at his teammates for such a calamitous bit of bad defending that it was only thanks to him that it didn't get worse for his country.
Into the last five minutes and now the French were showing determination to try and find the opening goal in the closing minutes and once again, much to the dismay of the Tartan Army, the Scottish players were stuck back into their own half as they now tried to defend and keep the game score less, though from the Scotland bench, Brown was standing on the touchline yelling orders and motioning for his players to try and get out of that area and pump the ball forward, surely they could do better than this? In the forty-first minute, a frustrated captain Gary McAllister found himself clattering into the French captain, Deschamps, right on the edge of the Scottish box with the French crying out for a penalty, instead the referee pointed for a free kick right on the edge with the Scottish captain getting a yellow card for what had happened. For what felt like the millionth time that day, the Tartan Army and Scotland fans everyone all held their breath as they waited for Zidane to take the free kick.
Karembeu in action during the final moments of the first half
He would run up and it seemed like it was going in with Goram looking like he was going to miss the ball, but instead the ball clattered on the crossbar to go out for a Scottish goal kick and Zidane turned away in disgust for his failure of missing what could've been a wonderful way for his country to take the lead in these closing minutes. Ironically, the miss would see Scotland start pushing forward following the goal kick, but further controversy was to follow. Into the second minute of three minutes of added time prior before the end of the first half, McCall would weave the ball through the legs off Djorkaeff and sent it on towards Booth who made chase on the left flank on the counter for Scotland to try and make an opening of their own. The crowd roared him on and he would fire a shot towards the left side of the French goal in which he somehow managed to weave it's way through as the ball went off the side of Lama and saw the ball bulging the side of the net.
Scotland had scored and Booth wheeled around to celebrate with his teammates, but then he notice that the referee wasn't pointing to the centre circle and instead was pointing for a French goal kick. Confusion became apparent on the Scots who looked over to the linesman wondering at first if Booth had been offside, but yet no one, not even the French players, could understand what had just happened, but whatever the strange reason why the goal had been chalked off sent tempers to boil over. Half time would be blown following Lama's goal kick, but as soon as the referee blew to end the first half, he found himself surrounded by angry Scottish players demanding to know what had just happened to not include the goal with TV footage of the moment becoming quite remembered from the game, though perhaps of the wrong reasons.
The booing the stadium from the frustrated Scottish fans was heard all around with it very likely that many watching the game in pubs in Scotland would've all thrown their beer cans at the TV screen in anger over the disallowed goal. The poor referee wasn't helped that round the player's tunnel, several Scottish fans were surrounding it and beginning to swear and insult the referee by either giving him the finger or even throw coins at him. In conclusion, the first half ended on a rather sorry state of affairs which was a great shame considering how exciting the game had been despite the score suggesting otherwise. Nonetheless as Craig Brown followed the players down the tunnel, he knew their supporters deserved better than this and had to build up his players in the hope of getting a lucky break here. But what was a Scotland manager to do? Another forty-five minutes would lie in wait for both sides to try and break the deadlock, question was who would managed to do it?
---------
By the time the second half started, as well as the tempers of the angry Tartan Army (having all ranted to each other about how they felt they'd been cheated), the game started off at quite a gentle affair in which both sides seemed like they didn't want to go out all guns blazing from the moment of kick off. Craig Brown's advice for his team was simply to keep plugging away and take a risk of going out and making attempts to open the scoring. Some would've felt that Brown would've reverted back to 4-4-2 after how much the 5-3-2 formation hadn't really helped Scotland that much, but it was a surprise to see nothing was changed as Scotland would keep that formation. Indeed, it would seem that Brown's choice to keep faith in this unlikely formation was now starting to work as Scotland get the first clear cut chance of the second half in which Booth raced forward with Durie and McCoist following him nearby in the fiftieth minute.
Booth would cross the ball over inside the box in which McCoist got his head on the ball and just as the Tartan Army were about to roar in celebration, Lama managed to
somehow pull off an super human save to save his side from going down. How he managed to pull of such a save was anyone's guess, not that the French supporters cared for keeping themselves in the game. France would respond in the fifty-fourth minute with a free kick due to Collins bringing down Zidane and he would send the ball crossing towards the box in which Goram one again saved the ball for what must felt like his billionth save of the game, he was getting rather to know that ball very well. As much as it was great to see Scotland making inroads inside the French half, some fans must've felt that of a consequence were leaving their defence wide open for a French attack and Deschamps would be the one to try and ask Scotland questions in the fifty-ninth minute as he would let fly a volley towards the goal, though it would be a wasted shot for France that went way over the bar and into the gloating Scotland fans behind the goal. Just who was going to open the scoring?
In the sixty-eighth minute, after a rather long lull in the game in which the tempo and flair from earlier seemed to dry up for both sides, all seemed to suddenly come back to life again in which Durie ran near the box French box after a blazing run forward in which all the Scotland fans in that stadium must've all been screaming out for him to shoot as he got right on the edge of the penalty box, but he was taking down by Blanc and by the cry of disapproval from the Scotland fans, many expected a booking for the French defender and for Scotland to be rewarded with a penalty. What happened next perhaps left much in disbelieve as instead, the referee thrusted a yellow card into the face of a flabbergasted Durie for what the referee said was due to a dive, even though many nearby where it happened and watching the replays on TV could all clearly see that it was indeed a penalty, the referee just had the rotten luck of being situated in a area that didn't give him a clear view.
The Tartan Army during the second half at Anfield
The Scotland players once again surrounded the Spanish referee who just couldn't believe at their bad luck for this all to happen to them again, surely their was any cheating going on here, right? The crowd voice their disapproval as they chanted the referee as a blatant cheat who they thought clearly had it in for the French to do well in the game. Brown himself was starting to wonder just what did they have to do in order to win this game when it felt like the whole world was against them and to make matters worse, Scotland nearly allowed France to take advantage of them during their argument with the referee that Hendry had to act to defend a counter run by Djorkaeff by knocking the ball off the French player's feet and out for a throw in for the men in white. Once the referee had managed to force the Scottish players back to play the game again, the game became more a stuffy affair in the mid field as neither side were barging to let a goal in, this rather mind numbingly boring style of play from both side would go on for a further twelve minutes with pretty much nothing happening, other than the French manager, Jacquet, bringing on Pedros to replace Loko in the hope of using fresh legs to try and snatch a late winner.
By the time the game wheezed along into the seventy-second minute, it looked clear that both sets of fans seemed aware that this game was going into extra-time and the thought a more of this restricted play must've been a dreadful thought for all concerned. In the seventy-sixth minute however, Pedros tried his best to break the deadlock as he found himself running circles round the likes of Calderwood and McKinlay, neither of which could stop him, and with him right on the left side of the Scottish penalty box and sent the ball curling towards the top left corner of the goal with Goram making a dive into that direction. Instead the ball clattered on the corner post and bounced out for a goal kick for the Scots, with the French player placing his hands on his head in annoyance that his brilliant little run had all come to nothing in the end. The Scots tried their absolute best to find the opening goal too with McCoist trying out a similar attack to Pedros not long later in the eighty-second minute, but unlike the Frenchman, McCoist's ball went flying over the bar and didn't seem to trouble Lama at all.
The players looked exhausted and frustrated for seemingly getting nowhere in this second half and this feeling was shared by the Tartan hordes in Anfield as well as the small number of French supporters who must've felt that they should've flattered the Scots by now with the talent they had in that side. Frustration would come to a head once again in the eighty-ninth minute when McCoist and Thuram came together near the corner flag on the French half and although it was a Scottish throw in due to coming off the French's defender's foot, it was hard to tell just by how close the two players had been and the two of them ended up getting into a playground fight trying to blame the other who was at fault.
Even Pedros can't stand the thought of the game going into extra time during the closing minutes of the game with Scotland
Even when the referee came over to point for a Scottish throw in, he had to defuse the situation between McCoist and Thuram who had began shoving each other over just showing how angry this game had made both players. The referee would instead book both players as a way to try and bring the point to them of trying to calm down. It would be the last act of the 90 minutes as the game would now start extra time and both managers went onto the field to get their respected sides ready for another thirty minutes to play for, but there was one way the game could end sooner that expected...Golden goal. The rules of that were simple, whoever was to score within the thirty minutes from now, would end the match as in sudden death and win the game outright, it seemed like a good plan for Brown to use to their advantage and began to tell the players of what to do...
---------
By the time extra time started, it was starting to get dark and the floodlights were starting to go on. The difference now with Scotland was they had finally ditched the 5-3-2 system and had reverted back to 4-4-2 and with the more encouraging attacking play that Scotland were starting to show in the early stages of extra-time, it seemed that the players were happy to go back to a system that they knew worked for them and in some ways by this point they had nothing to lose. The game would suddenly be turned on it's head when in the ninty-fourth minute, Thuram would strike Booth on the counter when he made a sliding tackle that sent the Scot flying and landing awkwardly on his side which looked like he was in great pain. It seemed as if Thuram had forgotten he was already booked and the Scottish audience roared out for action to be taking and the referee ran straight up to the French player and showed him a straight red card for such a challenge.
All hell seemed to break loose and both sets of players ran to surround the referee expressing their view on the matter with the Scots keeping a close on their fallen teammate, now looking clearly needing medical attention while the French tried to make their point that it was a harsh choice for the referee to make. Nonetheless, both Booth and Thuram went off the pitch, though it would be the Scot that would leave on a stretcher while the Frenchman made his way down the tunnel while be goaded by the delighted Scottish fans around the tunnel. It would then fall for John Spencer to take Booth's place in the team, though many wonder that even if Scotland were to go through, would that be the last they'd see of Booth at this tournament?
Scotland now played with determination as if they were getting revenge for their fallen teammate and the ten men of France team looked rattled and seemed short of ideas, now was the chance for Scotland to get something here Brown thought as he motioned the players forward for a last final push. In the ninety-sixth minute, Spencer would win a corner for Scotland in which many players got round in the box ready to get on the ball. The ball at first was headered backwards by McAllister looking like it was going nowhere, before then it just so happened to head in the direction of Durie who headed the ball to his left and the ball went right past the hands of Lama and finally hit the back of the netting. Golden goal for Scotland!
Durie, in the middle of the huddle celebrates with his teammates of getting the golden goal.
Anfield erupted, probably not in the way that it had done in recent years regarding Liverpool FC, and anyone outside the stadium must've thought that a bomb must've gone off giving the noise that the Tartan Army made as they celebrated widely. Images of those celebrations are remembered fondly by many who watched it on TV, Durie racing to the corner flag and sliding on his chest before being piled up by his delighted teammates before giving him further congratulations, the Tartan Army trying to start a pitch invasion and the look of utter heartbreak on all the French players there who all lay on the ground in despair at what had just happened. For a team that was set to be the next world cup hosts and were expected to do well here in England had come up short and that was to really sting for Les Bleus.
It was hard to tell if Scotland deserved the victory or not, but given some of the controversial choices that they had been the subject of in this game, they would've felt that justice had been earned here though some felt that if Cantona had played then this game would have ended up being very different with likely France utterly smashing the Scots here. Not that the Tartan Army cared for that; Scotland were through the Semi finals of a tournament for the first time since 1968 and throughout that night in Liverpool, the Tartan Army celebrated widely into the night while the celebrations were also replicated north of the border. Now the Scots would made a short journey east over to Manchester where they were to play in the last four, surely it was possible, right...?
---------
And here we are with another Euro '96 update. Pretty much the same as what came before though a few tweaks made to tidy things up. Anyway, final four fixtures as they stand:
---------
Scotland vs Czech Republic
Germany vs England
---------
So...you know what to do. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this update and I'll hopefully see you all very soon! 
