The long, quiet, often empty days of lockdown allowed Gareth Southgate a chance to re-watch televised recordings of Euro 96.
As England’s manager acknowledged in interviews last week, his memories of playing in the tournament were sometimes at odds with the pictures unfolding in his home amid the magnificent Pennine countryside west of Harrogate.
The passage of time had airbrushed some of the more awkward episodes of England’s run to penalty shootout heartbreak against Germany in the semi-final. A case in point is a quarter-final in which Terry Venables’ side struggled to overcome an arguably unfortunate Spain on penalties.
With the game goalless – partly thanks to Southgate’s efforts in central defence – after extra time, memories of England’s imperious 4-1 final group stage win against the Netherlands were receding as spot kicks beckoned.
Indeed Javier Clemente’s side were aggrieved to have had two “goals” disallowed for offside, with the second, steered home by Julio Salinas, almost certainly chalked off incorrectly. Venables, meanwhile, had David Seaman to thank for making a fine save with his legs to deny Javier Manjarín.
Perhaps fortune was simply frowning on La Roja as Fernando Hierro’s opening penalty hit the crossbar and Seaman guaranteed England a semi-final place by saving the final kick from Miguel Ángel Nadal. Nadal, incidentally, has a nephew named Rafa who would later prove to be pretty useful at tennis.
In contrast, England’s four takers, Alan Shearer, David Platt, Stuart Pearce and Paul Gascoigne, made no mistake from 12 yards, with Pearce atoning for his penalty miss in the semi-final of Italia 90.
Ten years before that World Cup, Italy was also the host nation as Euro 1980 witnessed the only other meeting of England and Spain during a European Championship finals.
Italy 80 was the first edition of the tournament to feature an expansion to eight teams. Participants were divided into two groups with the first-placed sides contesting the final and the runners-up competing for third place. Ron Greenwood’s England were paired with Belgium, Italy and Spain in a showpiece played out against a background of an Italian match-fixing scandal, disturbingly ascendant hooliganism and a distinct lack of local interest.
If Italy were not playing, live attendances remained stubbornly low, with only 14,440 spectators turning up at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples to see England defeat Spain 2-1 in the final group game.
Although Tony Woodcock’s second-half goal secured victory after the substitute Dani had cancelled out Trevor Brooking’s opener courtesy of an equalising penalty, the win proved academic for an England side destined to finish third in the group.
Their opening matches had involved a draw with Belgium in Turin, suspended for five minutes as riot police with teargas tackled an outbreak of English-fuelled hooliganism on the terraces, and a dispiriting defeat to Italy.
Spain ended up a place beneath Greenwood’s team in a group won by Belgium – who proceeded to lose the final to West Germany – but they did not depart Italy quite as disappointed as England.
With Liverpool and Nottingham Forest then dominating European club football and Greenwood’s biggest star, Kevin Keegan, having six months earlier won the Ballon d’Or for a second time, their exit represented significant underachievement.
As Southgate prepares his side to face Spain in Sunday’s final in Berlin, he can at least feel reassured that sports science has moved on since 1980, when the Football Association arranged a friendly for Greenwood’s subsequently jet-lagged team against Australia in Sydney 12 days before the tournament kicked off.
At a moment when the UK’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, and his government are pencilling in plans for English celebrations should Harry Kane and co triumph in Berlin, surviving members of Greenwood’s class of 1980 doubtless recall a slightly awkward pre-tournament cocktail party with the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at 10 Downing Street.
Europe was in the midst of the cold war and Spain were managed by the Budapest-born former Barcelona forward László Kubala, who had arrived in the country as a refugee after fleeing Hungary in 1949. Today visitors to the Camp Nou queue up to take selfies alongside his statue and watch grainy video footage of the famed Kubala curl.
Kubala, who died in 2002, initially escaped to Austria hidden in the back of a truck, reuniting with his wife and baby son in Italy before ending up in Spain. Her journey from the Soviet bloc had involved a swim across the Danube with the infant hidden inside a giant tyre.
At times England’s route to the final has appeared to be almost as arduous, but now only Spain can prevent Berlin from becoming Southgate’s very own promised land.
