By Andrew Lord
23 April 2022
In the semi-final of the European Championships between England and Germany in 1996, the score was level at 1-1 after 90 minutes. Alan Shearer put England ahead with a header after just three minutes and Beşiktaş striker Stefan Kuntz equalised with 16 minutes on the clock. Half an hour of extra time failed to separate the sides. Darren Anderton hit the post and Paul Gascoigne came agonisingly close to scoring a golden goal, but after 120 minutes both sides squared up for a penalty shoot-out.
The Germany squad had been weakened by a series of injury blows. Jürgen Kohler was forced to bow out of the tournament after sustaining an injury in the first game against the Czech Republic. Then Fredi Bobic and Mario Basler suffered injuries, further reducing the 22-man squad. The situation became so serious that UEFA granted Germany the option of nominating an extra player before the final in the form of Jens Todt.
Thomas Helmer
Thomas Helmer and Stefan Reuter both went into the game carrying knocks, which exacerbated the already existing injury problems within the squad. In an interview with Goal and SPOX the Bayern Munich centre back Helmer recalled the drama of that evening at Wembley on 26th June 1996: “I had never played at Wembley before, so the semi-final against England was my first Wembley experience. The atmosphere was amazing. English and German fans sang ‘Football’s coming home’ together. The game provided incredible drama. Paul Gascoigne, who was just inches away from scoring in extra-time, Stefan Kuntz, whose goal was disallowed in extra-time and then of course the penalty shoot-out.”
“Of course, today I can say I would have taken a penalty! But seriously, I never took a penalty in the Bundesliga or for the national team. But as an experienced player, as I was at the time, I would probably have taken one if it came down to it. I’m just glad we were able to come up with five players. It was difficult to come up with five players, to begin with we only had four. I discussed with Berti Vogts whether or not Thomas Strunz should take one. He had only just been brought on in extra-time. I said he always took great pens. Then he took one and scored. But five players weren’t enough, we needed a sixth as both sides had scored the first five penalties. Andreas Möller then said he was prepared to take one.”
Helmer missed the drama of the penalty shoot-out: “I didn’t see any of the penalties because I stood with my back to goal. I just couldn’t watch. I just looked at co-trainer Erich Rutemöller instead. When he celebrated, so did I. So, I didn’t see the winning goal until later. Then I saw that until the final penalty, Andy Köpke almost always dived the wrong way. The England penalties were brutally good.”
“It is always difficult to comprehend such moments. You see everyone celebrating, everyone is running towards you. But at that moment I wasn’t able to run, I stayed where I was standing. I would say to a certain extent you are incoherent, so soon afterwards. It’s not until later when you watch the game again that you comprehend it all.”
“In the changing room everyone collapsed, as we were completely exhausted, many of us were injured. Nobody could think about celebrating, the changing room was too small for it anyway. Straight after the game, the preparations for the final began.”
Matthias Sammer
Borussia Dortmund sweeper Matthias Sammer won the 1996 UEFA Player of the Tournament award, but he turned down the opportunity to take a penalty. He reasoned: “I don’t have any problems with penalty shoot-outs, as long as I don’t have to take one. I just can’t do it, I always like both corners of the net.”
Christian Ziege
Before Möller, Thomas Häßler, Thomas Strunz, Stefan Reuter, Christian Ziege and Stefan Kuntz had all taken penalties and scored.
Bayern Munich wing back Christian Ziege told SPORTBUZZER: “Not many players wanted to take a penalty. I was injured, I was finished really, I had been badly caught in a challenge. Then there was the tension, you think about the fans and all the people at home. But I liked taking penalties, I wanted to take on this challenge. You just have to put it in the back of the net. When you step up, you should decide what you are going to do and stick to it. Otherwise, it can all go wrong. From the centre circle I had already decided on the goalkeeper’s left – and then towards the inside of the net at half-height. Afterwards I was proud and relieved that I had the courage to do it and didn’t become a national joke.”
Stefan Kuntz
34-year-old Kuntz was playing for Beşiktaş in the Turkish league in 1996 and his experience was invaluable to Germany following injuries to Jürgen Klinsmann, Mario Basler and Fredi Bobic, who he replaced at half-time in the quarter-final against Croatia. “When Berti Vogts asked me to take one, I told him I would take the fifth. I was convinced that England wouldn’t get that far. But when the fifth English player scored, my heart was in my mouth. Nowadays I laugh about it, because I scored.”
As the German team left the field as victors, the English fans stood and applauded. “That was incredible. I have never experienced such fair play from any other fans whose team has just lost. I will never forget it.”
Andreas Köpke
The first ten penalty takers had provided a masterclass in the art of taking penalties, but Southgate’s penalty was poorly placed with weak execution. Andreas Köpke, who signed for Marseille during the tournament, saved the spot-kick with ease. He told SPORTBUZZER: “Of course we were prepared for the possibility of a penalty shoot-out and I had analysed the potential English penalty takers in advance with goalkeeping trainer Sepp Maier. When the game goes to a penalty shoot-out, the goalkeeper is well aware of his key role and responsibility. I was in a tunnel. The first five penalties by the England players were great shots, the sixth from Southgate was the first that was unplaced and I was able to save it. Then Andy Möller scored the decisive penalty and the celebration and relief were indescribable.”
Andreas Möller
Gerd Rubenbauer, commentator at the German television channel ARD, said before the decisive penalty: “Andy Möller can become the greatest player at this tournament, if he puts this away.” Up to that point, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder had struggled to find his form in the tournament. Once again, he had failed to play to his full potential at an international tournament despite his obvious ability – he had won the Bundesliga title in 1995 and 1996 with Dortmund. But now Möller, who was often derided in German football with nicknames including ‘cry baby’ and ‘wimp’, had the chance to show everyone what he was made of.
Andreas Möller told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “Berti Vogts walked round and looked some players in the face, others declined. I played well in the game, I was team captain, so it was obvious to me that I would also take the penalty.”
After putting away the decisive penalty, Andreas Möller struck a pose reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne, breast out, hands on hips. “The celebration was intuitive, you don’t think about it in advance. I thought it was an expression of strength. At Wembley stadium, we, the German team, had kicked the home nation out of the tournament: Look what we’ve achieved!”
“For you Fritz, ze Euro 96 Championship is over!” was the headline in the Daily Mirror with mocked-up photographs of Stuart Pearce and Paul Gascoigne in helmets from the Second World War. But the tournament was over for the host nation and the Czech Republic awaited Germany in the final after triumphing in a penalty shoot-out in the other semi-final earlier that day.
England: David Seaman, David Platt, Gareth Southgate, Tony Adams (c), Stuart Pearce, Paul Ince, Darren Anderton, Steve McManaman, Paul Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham, Alan Shearer.
Substitutes: Tim Flowers, Ian Walker, Sol Campbell, Phil Neville, Steve Stone, Nick Barmby, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler
Germany: Andreas Köpke, Matthias Sammer, Stefan Reuter, Markus Babbel, Thomas Helmer (Marco Bode 110 mins), Christian Ziege, Steffen Freund (Thomas Strunz 118 mins), Dieter Eilts, Andreas Möller (c), Mehmet Scholl (Thomas Häßler 77mins), Stefan Kuntz.
Substitutes: Oliver Kahn, Oliver Reck, Rene Schneider, Oliver Bierhoff, Jurgen Klinsmann
© Andrew Lord 2022
German Football 