Chapter 75
An Awkward Encounter
Though Wales had made it to the knockout stage, it was all pretty much only by the skin of their teeth that they made it in which if one looked at the group carefully, Wales had been lucky to squeak through on goal difference thanks to that victory over the Greeks, the unfortunate team who had gone out on goal difference to them. Then again considering how two years prior that they had just missed out on getting out of the group, this might have seemed like and swings and roundabouts moment. On the day before their Quarter final tie with France, the Welsh players were training at their camp in which a small crowd of curious Portuguese locals watched them prepare themselves for the game in hand. For one of these players, Robert Earnshaw, there was a sense that no one in this camp was better than anyone else in this team.
The West Bromwich player had only been playing for Wales since 2002, though he sadly just missed out on being part of the squad that went out to Asia for the World Cup there, though given the early exit, it might've not been a bad thing he missed out on that episode. Unquestionable the main star in this team was their captain, Ryan Giggs, and to some extent John Hartson of Celtic. The rest all were mainly players playing their trade in England, Wales and Scotland and for the most part didn't really have much star power among them, though together they all made a fairly decent team that was capable of going all the way and as Earnshaw trained beside the Atlantic Ocean with his teammates, there was a feeling of being equal and no one felt better than the other.
Granted they had someone like Mark Hughes as their manager who was considered a legend among the Welsh supporters and knew very well what it meant when expectations had been high for Wales after seeing the country qualify for tournament after tournament and how he was hoping to make amends after 2002. Earnshaw took time off briefly to take water and then poured some on his head to cool down in the hot Portuguese sun. He then noticed the gaffer simply watching the players with a thoughtful look on his face as if something was troubling him.
"You ok, gaffer?" Earnshaw asked the manager and Hughes looked over at him.
"Yeah, lad I'm good," Hughes muttered.
Earnshaw wasn't so sure. "Really? You look a bit, you know, lost."
The Welsh manager chuckled. "Is that so? Well, here's a little something between you and me if you promise not to tell anyone."
Earnshaw nodded and glanced over at the other players who were busy training and unaware of his and Hughes little conversation.
Hughes then placed an arm over his shoulder. "Ok, few know about this, but the media have become a pain back home and it is making me consider stepping down."
The Welsh player was stunned at this news. "Wait,
what? Why is that?"
"You'll know about how that England side are being praised to the high heavens remember?" Hughes pointed out. "Since they won the World Cup, their press just won't shut up, hell I'm surprise the country is still held together with them banging on how 'supposedly' good they are and annoying everyone that's not English."
Earnshaw knew very well what the gaffer meant, it had been something that had annoyed many and it didn't help that the previous evening, England had just managed to beat Portugal 2-1 right in the middle of injury time; a game in which England's second goal being highly disputed with many claiming that there was a foul in the box and it shouldn't have been given and when the Welsh team watched the game live on TV, Hughes had nearly taken a fit over the goal
"But what has the Welsh press got to do with this?" Earnshaw asked with confusion, though he was greeted by a snort of laughter from the gaffer.
"Have you read what they've been saying? They've started calling you guys the 'Golden Generation' for Wales! Can't believe they're copying what's said in England."
Earnshaw was quite surprised when he heard this, truth be told he hadn't read much of the papers and even out here he'd no idea what was being said back home. He could only hope that it was support and no them trying to put them down when all the team was trying to do was win games. Then again, the more he thought about, the constant ego stroking the English press had for their team seemed to fire up the Welsh players more to make a mark and seeing as England were in the Semis, Wales were hoping to join them there if they could get past France.
Hughes then gave the young player on the back. "Go on, get back to training, I think I have an idea how to use you in the next game. Think it'll be a great tactic."
Earnshaw wouldn't know then what Hughes was planning, but tomorrow evening, it would all become clear...
Hughes during Wales' training sessions in Portugal
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To put it bluntly, the heat and humidity was horrendous. That was the best to describe on the atmosphere alone in the Estádio José Alvalade stadium in Lisbon and even though it was late into the evening, it was one of those nights in which your shirt stuck to your back due to the sweat and it was hardly the sort of thing you wanted to play a game of football in, but then again that was the players representing both France and Wales had to do if they wanted to reach the Semi-Finals. Earnshaw didn't know if he should've felt happy or disappointed that he was on the bench, granted it felt like it was hotter than hell out here, but he wanted to be part of the action with his teammates who were really holding onto their luck here.
The game was important for both sides. France were the holders and hoping to make it two-in-a-row, though they had suffered a disastrous World Cup campaign two years ago which didn't make many feel confident in their chances even though they had finished as group winners at this tournament. For Wales, this was undoubtable a huge game for them as they had never been in a Semi-Final since 1982 and of course that long hoodoo of no final since 1962 that any Welshman would have killed to finally break that trend and if they were to get past this French side, who knows just what might happens next? The game though hadn't been good, to be blunt, a bore fest that you could cut your eyes out and you would've had missed anything; this game was crying out for something to happen.
If one was to look at the stats then everyone could see that France were all over Wales with more possession, shots on target and corner kicks, yet despite all this, the score was still stuck at 0-0 as the game wheezed along into the eighty-sixth minute. The many supporters on both sides of the divide were growing increasingly restless as it felt that extra time and penalties loomed and that was something neither wanted especially in this heat. It was here than though that Mark Hughes had been waiting for this moment as when France won a throw in, the Welsh gaffer would use the moment to make a substation and motioned Earnshaw to get on his feet as he was to take over John Hartson who was to come off.
Zidane with his teammates try to figure out what to do
To many, it seemed crazy during a crucial point in the game to take off Hartson as he been one player in this game for Wales who had made all the best chances. Granted, there wasn't many but nonetheless they were moments for Wales in this game so far. Earnshaw knew the plan was simple, at this point in the game when France looked to be tried, send on fresh pair of legs to kill off the French and win the game and the so called 'fresh pair of legs' would fall to Earnshaw. He would get a hearty applause from the Welsh fans who some hoped that he would the one that could help them out here and thankfully for the Welsh, his impact was immediate. Earnshaw would slice his way through the tired French backline, and he was surprised to see how oddly easy it was to trouble them...almost as if they had given up themselves.
Hardly the best thing for the European champions if they wanted to defend their crown and it was now starting to become a worry for the French supporters that Wales looked as they had their tails up and keen to get something in it. Many were starting to wonder how many more minutes were going to be given with the estimated being five more minutes of added time to the ninety that was slowing dying out. Then, right in the second minute off added time and with the game look set to go into thirty more minutes of extra-time to be played in the hot Portuguese heat, Wales won a free kick near the edge of the field on the left. It would be Ryan Giggs that would be the one to take it with many wanting to try and get on the ball when it would come into the box.
The tension was now at fever pitch when the referee blew his whistle for Giggs to take it and he curled it into the box in which Earnshaw saw a chance to try and get on in and with a sweetly timed one footed volley, Earnshaw slammed home the ball that went right past the hands of Bathez and into the top left corner of the net. Cue mad scenes from the Welsh in which the players all made a pile on top of Earnshaw and the supporters would've all made a mad pitch invasion had it not been to the stern Portuguese police, though it did feel like the cork of a bottle had been opened and that the Welsh could finally let out their feelings in the most passionate of ways. Despite the French looking utterly mortified that they were about to go out, Zidane made one final solo run in the last minute of added time in which he went on the volley towards Paul Jones' goal, but unlike other French attempts in which he had made a number of saves, he didn't need to get a hand on the ball and would watch it rocket over the bar and that pretty much was the very last shot of the game.
Earnshaw's joy after his goal over France
They'd done it, Mark Hughes' side had reached the Semi-finals, the first time a Welsh side had been there since 1982, one in which he just so happened to be part of. On balance of play, Wales perhaps didn't deserve the victory but try and tell that the Welsh fans who were to party well into the early hours of the following day and that maybe that they could now win Euro 2004...or, if they could start dreaming about winning it. If it was possible for Wales to go all the way was anyone's guess, but now many British eyes looked towards Scotland the following day the hope of having three British teams in the last four. But for Earnshaw, he looked over at Mark Hughes as he was giving an interview for the BBC on the pitch, and he had done his small part in helping Wales win the game. As the old saying goes, every little helps...
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Two British teams through, one more to join them. Scotland. The opponent they were to play was Sweden, surely a game that Scotland could pull off? That wasn't quite the case when one remembered that Sweden had been in a group with Italy and had held them to a draw and they had the talent of one certain Zlatan Ibrahimović which many in the Scotland camp were fearful of getting ripped up by him alone, never mind the fairly decent team they had to boot. Scotland's manager Walter Smith knew that Knockout football was always different from the group stage, however he did notice that with many of the big names all falling to the wayside such as Germany, Italy and France, could Sweden suffer the same fate as them?
The last time Scotland were in a Quarter final was at the European championship back in 1996 and pretty much
every Scotsman will know what happened there, however what was to say they could not only repeat that, but go one step better? Also, as a bonus for winning this game, the victor here would actually play England in the Semi-final, if that didn't get the team pumped up for this game then who knows what would. As Sweden kicked off, many Scottish eyes had their eye on one such player in the Swedish team, Henrik Larsson, the Swede who had made a name for himself at Celtic and had been a terror for all the other teams in the league, plus with all the success he earned there and only a recent move to Barcelona, it was going to be an awkward encounter for the Celtic players in the Scotland team such as John Kennedy, Robert Douglas and Jackie McNamara and of course Paul Lambert to put club differences aside and focus on paying for their country. The latter would have good reason to make the make amends for what had happened to him.
Scotland manager Walter Smith and his assistant coach Tommy Burns looking over during one training exercise at the Scottish training camp
Though it was still a long way off, Lambert felt that the disdain much of the Tartan Army still had for him and he hoped that he would be able to finally win them over, however it seemed that the only one to do that was to pull off a daunting feat of winning the whole thing. Crazy but then again, some folks are never so forgiven. Away from the field was something else that was taking place. For the Scots heading on their way, they would've instantly recognised the characters, a bunch of old age pensioners known as Jack and Victor that were the characters from the Scottish sitcom
Still Game, the show about a pair of Glaswegian pensioners, who get up to various misadventures that has become a household name across Scotland and this particular special that was being filmed in Portugal would be the first for the show and would see Jack, Victor and all the gang head out to Portugal to follow Scotland throughout Euro 2004.
Though the crew and cast were keeping a tight lip of what would happen in the special to the interest of the nosy Tartan Army, it wouldn't be long until leaks would show what the plot would be about. Prior to the start of the tournament the barman, Boabby, has managed to acquire tickets along with a number of his friends to head out to Portugal much to the annoyance of the pensioners who now won't have anyone running 'The Clansman' while he is away, however he soon hears of shocking news that many of the guys he was originally supposed to be with have all been arrested as part of an embezzlement scam which leaves Boabby with many tickets that look set to go to waste. However, after much persistent from the gang all wanting the chance to follow Scotland for what might be their last time due to their advance ages, Boabby reluctantly allows them to join him in Portugal.
Throughout the special, various mishaps happen such as Jack and Victor getting a sunburn while trying to get a tan, Winston getting food poisoning, Tam being arrested after trying to use forged Euro notes to get around and Isa trying to flirt with local Portuguese men which all end in failure due her annoying personality. It wasn't the first time the BBC had done something like this as during Italia '90, fellow Scottish sitcom 'Rab C. Nesbitt' had a similar concept in which the characters head off to Italy to support Scotland at the World Cup which also was a Christmas special and, in some ways, this special could be seen as some sort of sequel that that one. Regardless though, the script would always be changing due to how well the team was doing and here the cast were being filmed for 'watching' Scotland's game with Sweden.
Anders Svensson trying to help Sweden get back in the game
Despite the confidence any of the Scottish players had going into this game, it didn't start of the best for the Scots as a lot of slack play from the men in blue was frankly inviting the Swedes to score the first goal and Larsson himself would nearly do this in the sixth minute in which would been an early lead for Sweden had not Douglas got a hand on it. Despite Smith's cries from the touchline wanting Scotland to tighten up, it was not looking good for the Tartan Army who could only pray that things would pick up. Slowly though, Scotland did soak up Swedish pressure and made sure that Sweden didn't break through to try and score and indeed, Larsson's own attempt had been Sweden's best effort on target as the game and the longer the Scots kept this up of stopping goals from shots from flying in.
The more frustrated the Swedes seem to get as during the seventeenth minute while the Swedes were awarded a throw in, Mattis Jonson got into a small spat with John Kennedy over how stubborn Scotland was and this saw him get a warning from the referee to keep a cool head. Granted, Scotland were honestly playing anti-football (one that many would note was something that Walter Smith would use for his Rangers team in the future during European games which is another story), but this was actually part of Smith's plans in order to lead the Scandinavian side into a false sense of security and then in the twenty-fourth minute, they'd get that chance. Mikael Nillson was near on the edge of the field deep in the Scottish half in which he attempted to try and cross the ball over into the box.
Instead, when he crossed it over, it was diverted away by Barry Ferguson who leapt up and sent the ball flying towards Neil McCann who immediately went charging down on the left field heading deep into the Swedish half with many Scottish supporters rising to their feet expecting something while over on the Scottish bench, Walter Smith cried out at McCann to send it over towards James McFadden inside the box. He would do just that just as he found himself getting overwhelmed by two Swedish defenders and it was now down to McFadden to do the business for Scotland, however he found himself being caught by Olof Melberg who tried to stop him, and it looked like that Scotland's first good chance of the game was going to come to nothing.
McFadden during the game with Sweden
However, as it would turn out, McFadden instead he pulled off a smart turn which caused the Swedish player to make a tumble, much to the delight of the Tartan Army before McFadden would hammer home the ball and slam it into the top left of Andreas Isaksson's goal and from against the run of play and with their first shot on target, Scotland were in front. For the Swedes, it is a hammer blow as they thought they had a grip on this game when instead, the Scots have punched them in the gut and the confidence they might've had going into this game seems to vanish. The delighted Tartan Army now start chanting for another goal as Scotland start to come into their stride but oddly, they do make a few loose ball mistakes in which many fall for the Swedes to try and make something from them.
Of course, not that the Scottish fans seem to care about that as most of their attention is directed at Henrik Larsson and whenever he gets on the ball, he is greeted by a storm of jeers from the supporters; it is almost after all the hell he had dished up against all the Scottish teams while he played at Celtic that the supporters of those other teams within the ranks of the Tartan Army are making it known all loud and clear how much they want him to fail. This doesn't go unnoticed by Walter Smith and while he is delighted that his side are out in front, he can't help but feel a bit sorry for Larsson that he has to get all this grief, then again when you are the top player, everyone wants to beat you.
To add more to the irony of the situation, the arguably better-known Swedish player, Ibrahimović, seems all to be forgotten about by the Scotland fans and no matter how much he tries to help his team get something back in this game, it is not going well for Sweden. Then to make things worse, Scotland then nearly double their lead in the thirty-second minute when Kenny Miller lets the ball land on his chest following a cross from Paul Gallagher and lets it fall as he attempts to try a one footed volley but sends the ball flying up and over the bar. Some relief for Sweden but annoyance for Scotland knowing that a second goal now would surely kill this tie even if perhaps their side hasn't honestly deserved being out in front.
Andy Webster gets on the ball during the Quarter-final
Just a mere seven minutes later after that moment, it all goes from bad to worse for the Swedes. The Scots are awarded a corner and as Gallagher takes the corner, there is suddenly a ruckus in the Swedish box in which while trying to get in the air, Melberg elbows Richard Hughes in the face and has him crashing to the ground with his hands over his face. The players, supporters and the Scottish bench all cry for action and the Slovakian referee does so as he blows his whistle and points to the spot, a penalty for Scotland. The Scottish fans are delighted at this news though in all of the confusion, poor Melberg is shown a red card for his troubles and is sent off just as Kenny Miller steps up to the spot to take the vital penalty that would surely see Scotland kill this game off.
Miller places his hands on his hips as we waits impatiently for the referee to blow his whistle for him to take his spot kick while the Swedish fans behind the goal can only pray and hope Miller doesn't score, though with a stuttering run up and cheeky chip, Miller sends Isaksson the wrong way while the ball is sent right down the middle and not only are Sweden a man down, they are also two goals behind and Scotland have taken the game by the neck and look certain not to let it slip. The half time whistle arrives and one look at the Swedish players will saw you that they look down and out and nothing can seem to help them...
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Thankfully for them in second half, Scotland don't score again but neither do Sweden as despite the Scandinavians actually showing more attacking football far more than the Scots who seem more interested in the defence, the Scotland team in the second half now look a more solid team than before. In the end, the second half proved to be a fairly uneventful game for all for the neutral as Sweden seem to give up though Scotland don't seem bother to add to their lead which in the end does seem a decent idea if they want to rest players for the Semi-finals, in which in the end, that is where the Scots are off to next. For Henrik Larsson, he can only look on in sadness as his former Celtic teammates in the Scotland team celebrate happily. Things would be awkward between the Celtic players when they all returned to club duty that was for sure...
Some sad Swedes after their defeat to Scotland
The Swedes are heartbroken at how bad the game has gone for them and how they clearly wasted while the Scottish players on the field celebrate with their fans up in the stands as they all take in the great joy of having made it to their first semi-final since 1996 and lying in wait in a team that everyone in Scotland wanted to face, an auld enemy who happens to be the World Champion and to quote the great Sir Alex Ferguson, hope to 'knock them off their perch', albeit with perhaps a few more stronger words to boot. Regardless though as the Tartan Army would settle down after the high of that victory and the fact dawned on them on who they would be playing in the last four, the hype reached further heights.
No matter what though, three British teams were all in the last four which pretty much increased the chances for one of them or maybe even two to reach the final to make it into a true British affair much like 1966 and 1996. An exciting encounter lay in wait over in Lisbon in a few days' times...
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And there we are, all three get through and England's game is pretty much the same as OTL though this time the Sol Campbell goal is included and controversy follows because, you know, UEFA bias for champions etc...nothing's perfect in any TL as you can see! Anyway, mostly the same compared to the old TL with several tweaks here and there but also, I have been doing some work getting ready for Euro 2008 and how different things will be there.
Anyway, the last four as they stand:
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England vs Scotland
Wales vs Czech Republic
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Yep, next update will be a tasty one for sure but what will happen next? Find out next time! 
