For months after his penalty kick was saved, Gareth Southgate had to be on alert. At traffic lights, people would wind down their windows to shout abuse in his direction. Out shopping, he kept his gaze toward the floor, fearful that eye contact would lead to a disappointed shake of the head or an unkind word. He would get bundles of letters in the mail accusing him of letting down the country, and even one, extraordinarily, from a prison inmate blaming him for his incarceration. His mother, Barbara, questioned why he “didn’t just belt it, son?” He often had the same thought himself. Southgate is now England’s soccer head coach and national hero, but back in 1996 he was its fall guy, the subject of misplaced communal pain following the time when a tortured nation thought it was about to relive past glories. Having missed the penalty kick that doomed England to a shootout defeat to old rival Germany in the semifinal of the 1996 European Championship, Southgate turned to levity as a way to move on. He appeared in a commercial for Pizza Hut along with other players who’d also missed when it mattered most, not for the endorsement check but in the hope that laughing at his own plight might alleviate some of the more unpleasant vitriol that was cast his way. It did, but it took a while, the criticism ranging from the light-hearted to the aggressive, to the kind of imaginative taunts only rival fans are capable of. The inmate, for the record, insisted Southgate was to blame because England’s defeat made him so angry it caused him to go out rioting. “I just felt regret, remorse, responsibility,” Southgate said last year. “To a small degree that still lives with me, to have failed under pressure under that huge spotlight is hard, professionally, to take.” A quarter of a century on, England didn’t win the European title on Tuesday but it did something that meant almost as much, and, to some, will count for more. It beat Germany. For England is seen as an unfortunate soccer nation, a group prone to screw it all up, largely because of that one opponent. In truth, it wasn’t a single kick from Southgate, but a collective effort from Germany that broke their hearts in 1996 having also done so six years earlier (as West Germany) in the semis of the 1990 World Cup. Then again, at the 2010 World Cup, more misery followed, with a ball clearly over the goal line disallowed by an out-of-position assistant referee, denying England a 2-0 lead and sparking a second half collapse. And so the nation held its breath ahead of Tuesday’s last 16 clash at Euro 2020, scarcely daring to hope, fearing the worst, because it’s easier to deal with it that way when the worst actually arrives. Except it didn’t. Not this time. Not without tense moments, but England deserved its 2-0 win, marshaled by Southgate’s tactical nous as he instilled a formula aimed at blunting the German attack. It was a system unfamiliar enough to his players that they barely touched the ball for the opening 10 minutes, but once the settling-in period was securely navigated, they went on to dominate. Goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane clinched it, and on marches England to a quarterfinal against Ukraine on Saturday that they’ll be a solid favorite to win. The team, and their coach, are riding high. “Southgate is one of the most popular men in England right now because people respect what he has done with the team and also what he has gone through personally,” Sky Sports News’ Aidan Magee told me. “He has handled himself with class and with this week’s win, he erased some of the old torment. The current version of Germany’s dominant national team is not as good as many of its predecessors, but this round of 16 clash could have been closer had Thomas Muller not spurned a golden chance to equalize moments after Sterling’s opener. Regardless, there is no win that could have been sweeter for England. It is a strange irony that the country’s finest sporting hour and only major soccer championship win – the 1966 World Cup – came against the Germans. Ever since, they had never beaten them in the elimination stage of a major tournament. Until now. The historical element, combined with the reality that if Ukraine is overcome the semifinal and final would both be at London’s Wembley Stadium, has many fans believing. The iconic chorus of “football’s coming home” is being heard all over the country. FOX Bet has England at +180 to win the tournament and with World Cup champion France, European champion Portugal and the Germans eliminated, there is no use pretending this is anything other than a solid opportunity. Just as soccer’s biggest events provide the chance to send a nation into outpourings of sadness and disappointment, so too do they allow the potential to soothe its collective soul. “I was looking at the big screen and I saw … the teammates that played with me (in 1996),” Southgate told reporters. “I can’t change that, so that’s always going to hurt. “But what’s lovely is we’ve given people another day to remember.” It felt like he was talking for everyone. Perhaps, more than anything, he was speaking for himself. Here’s what others have said … James Olley, ESPN: “Gareth Southgate’s biggest test as England manager ended with a result that can redefine how the nation views itself at major tournaments.” James Benge, CBS: “Those questioning the England manager’s building one of Euro 2020’s most passive sides from a squad bursting with creative talent must surely retract their criticism after Germany were defeated by the Three Lions.” Harry Kane, England: “With all the expectation and pressure, we delivered. It’s a moment none of us will ever forget. The perfect afternoon.” |
