“Imagine. Playing in Wembley in such a special setting, and against England… The public was very supportive and we deserved to win, but unfortunately We lost on penaltiesa lottery. It was a disappointment.” 28 years later, Alfonso Pérez Muñozin conversation with EL MUNDO, does not forget the penalty shootout in the quarterfinals of the Euro 1996. Spain and England drew 0-0 in regular time after a crushing superiority of the team Javier Clemente with two wrongly disallowed goals a Kiko and Salinasw ith a penalty not called Road worker with very clear missed chances… Today, in the Olympic Stadium of Berlin another legend field, the selection will look for revenge.
“It was a robbery. You can’t play against 80,000 fans, against eleven of them and against three referees. It’s the same old thing, now go to UEFA and complain…” complained a desperate Salinas on the microphone. TVE after the match. “It is clear penalty“Very clear, too clear,” Caminero said. “When you don’t take advantage of the opportunities and the referee doesn’t blow the whistle, that’s what you’re left with, a slightly stunned face,” he resigned. Kiko.
The defeat hurt a Spain that had just tied with Bulgaria y France and to win at Romania with a goal from Amor in the final stretch to move on to the playoffs ahead of the national team StoitchkovIn the quarterfinals they faced England. Terry Venableswho came to resurrect the Three Lions after the shameful absence from the 1994 World Cup. The British had run over Netherlands in the group stage and they were already singing what they still demand today: “Football is coming home (Football is coming home)”.
On the grass, Gary Neville, Gascoigne, McManaman, Shearer o Sheringham…And also a young centre-back who stood out in that tournament: Gareth Southgatehoy English coach. For Spain, beyond those mentioned, Zubizarreta, Hierro, Nadal or Manjarin.
Shearer, Platt, Pearce and Gascoigne all scored their penalties y Hierro and Nadal failed The first and last for Clemente’s team, who were eliminated by the host. “The country was waiting and it hurt us not to be able to respond. In these competitions you have to be lucky and any mistake is paid for,” explains Alfonso, who still keeps the shirt that was won by the hosts. exchanged with Gascoigne.
Hierro sent the ball to the crossbar and Seaman stopped Nadal’s shotIt was the last save by an English goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out until Pickford stopped Bacca’s penalty in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Russia in 2018 against Colombia.
Pearce’s redemption and Southgate’s explosion
That game was the redemption of Stuart PearceBritish left-back who missed the penalty in the semi-finals of Italy 90 vs GermanyFederal. Against Spain he did not hesitate. He launched the third English attempt and beat Zubizarreta.The photo of that penalty is the only memory I have in my house.“, he explained to the Daily Mail.
That match against Spain also raised Gareth Southgate as the new leader of the defense of the Three Lions“He is a world-class footballer,” he said of him. Bobby Charlton after the duel. I had 25 years and had just signed for the Aston Villa. “I remember that I played well“, he replied yesterday to EL MUNDO. “Nadal (gesturing with his hair) is the player who comes to mind. Kiko and Luis Enrique too. It was a tough match and I think Spain should have won.probably. The matches against them are always tough,” reflected the coach, who He exchanged shirts with Kiko.
In semi-finalsHowever, the sky closed in on him. Southgate He had not been chosen to take the penalties against Spain, but in the semi-final against Germany he was one of those chosen. Shearer, who had scored the first against Clemente’s men, did not take the shot until the sixth time, and the now coach dared to take the first one. He failed.I just wanted to disappear from the world“, he admitted a few years later.
Tonight’s final means a lot to the British coach. It’s his own personal revenge with the tournament.I want to win so much it hurts“, he said in advance.
But in front of Southgate will be a team, the Spanish one, with several pending accounts with Englandwhich only adds disappointments in Euro Cups and World Cups. The defeat in the quarterfinals of 1996, in the 1980 group stagein the 1950 World Cup groups and the draw in the second phase of the 1982 World Cup which left the country out of the semi-finals. Today, in Berlin, the rematch.