Football’s Greatest Goals No.7
15th June 1996
This goal had it all; a great moment of skill and finish as well as a memorable celebration. It had the perfect setting, scored in the beautiful summer sun, scored by the host nation of a tournament at their national stadium. It was scored at a critical time, with the game on a knife-edge. The match was between two arch-rivals and it was vital for both sides to win the game.
The goal has a fantastic back story too. Gazza was under a lot of personal strain, hounded by the English media following a drinking session before the tournament. Gascoigne and a few others had gone out and got drunk in Hong Kong, a few weeks before the tournament. Gazza and a few of his team mates were photographed guzzling tequila whilst sitting on a dentist’s chair in a bar on the night out. The photos made the press and the photos were splashed across the front and back pages of the national newspapers.
Several newspapers called for him to be dropped from the team, as a result of his misdemeanours but Terry Venables, the England Coach decided to stand by his enigmatic playmaker.
England and Scotland hadn’t played each other since 1989, following crowd trouble in the last fixture. As soon as the draw was made, this match was the one that the fans looked forward to the most.
Hosts England had started the tournament with a frustrating 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Alan Shearer had scored his first England goal in 22 months in the first half before Switzerland equalised from the spot in the second half.
Scotland had played out a goalless draw with a strong Holland side at Villa Park two days later to leave the group level. England and Switzerland were first and second in the table though, having both scored a goal.
Two days before the England game, Holland beat Switzerland to go top of the group. This made it all the more important for England to beat Scotland as they faced Holland in their final group game.
The game was played on a glorious Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t watch it as I was at a Cub Camp in the Surrey countryside. My Dad was a Cup Leader and had borrowed a transistor radio from a colleague so I was continually running up to him to ask for score updates!
The first half was largely uneventful but sprang into life after the interval. Gary Neville whipped in a cross to the far post for Alan Shearer to head in an opener for England after 53 minutes.
Tony Adams then gave away a penalty after fouling Scotland’s Gordon Durie. Gary Mc Allister stepped up and hit the ball hard down the centre of the goal but David Seaman managed to push the ball away.
Less than two minutes later, England were two goals to the good, their second being this week’s ‘Greatest Goal’.
David Seaman hit a long ball downfield. Teddy Sheringham controlled it and laid it off to Darren Anderton on the left wing. As Sheringham got the ball Gascoigne began charging through the Scotland midfield. Terry Venables recalls seeing Gazza’s run and urging Anderton to hit a first-time through ball. Luckily for England, the Tottenham midfielder did just that.
Gascoigne latched on to the pass and it sat up nicely for him. Scotland’s centre back Colin Hendry was stood to Gazza’s right and tussled with him for the ball.
What happened next was pure genius. Gascoigne flicked the ball over Hendry’s head with his left foot, and ran around the defender. He then caught the ball on the volley, hitting the ball hard and low with his right foot, giving Andy Goram no chance in the Scotland goal.
The majority of the 76,864 fans in the Wembley crowd went mad. Gazza ran to the byline and lay on his back. In a pre-arranged celebration, Teddy Sheringham came running over and squirted water from a nearby drinks bottle. It was meant to be their version of the Dentist’s Chair from the night out before the tournament. The players were making a statement with the celebration to the press, showing that whatever was printed, the players would stick by each other.
The goal sealed the win and showed the skills that Gascoigne was capable of. He could make something happen out of nothing and could change a game in an instant.
England went into their final group game on a high. They demolished Holland 4-1 in one of the most complete performances ever seen at Wembley.
Holland’s goal was a late consolation that had more significance as it sent Holland through at Scotland’s expense. The Scots had beaten Switzerland 1-0 in their final game but went out on goal difference.
Holland would go out in the next round. The lost 5-4 on penalties to France at Anfield after neither side could score in the 90 minutes and extra time.
England and Spain was also goalless after extra time in their Quarter-Final, but the hosts won 4-2 on penalties. Germany met them in the Semi-Final and we all know what happened next.
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