On This Day – 26th February
Alan Shearer announced on this day back in 2000 that he would retire from international football at the end of the summer’s European Championships.
Shearer scored on his international debut in a 2-0 victory over France in February 1992. Graham Taylor saw Shearer as the perfect replacement for Gary Lineker and to help England qualify for the 1994 World Cup in America. This never happened and Taylor was replaced by Terry Venables.
England were to host the 1996 European Championships and so didn’t have to qualify for the tournament. They played a series of friendlies to fill the international breaks whilst other nations were playing their qualifiers. Shearer went twelve games without scoring in these friendlies and there were calls for him to be dropped for Euro 96, despite scoring 108 goals for Blackburn in this time.
Venables faith in Shearer paid off as he scored five goals in the tournament and won the Golden Boot. He was appointed England captain by new England coach Glenn Hoddle, who had come in to replace Venables after Euro 96.
Shearer scored twice at the 1998 World Cup in France, including England’s first goal of the tournament in a 2-0 win over Tunisia. His second goal of the tournament came from the penalty spot against Argentina, in a match that saw England lose on penalties.
On the day Shearer announced his desire to retire from international football to concentrate on his club football, he scored for Newcastle in a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. The Newcastle United fans must have been doubly pleased as he was showing his commitment to their club and could still find the back of the net!
Alan Shearer kept to his word and retired from international after Euro 2000, scoring twice in the tournament. In all, he scored 30 goals in 63 matches for his country.
About Author
