We’re only six matches into Jurgen Klopp’s first full season
in charge at Anfield and already there’s a buzz, a murmur, a fever, an
expectation around the place.We’ve been
here before, of course.For those of us
who were there at start of Paisley’s reign it’s easy to forget there is a whole
generation of Liverpool fans who have only known cup success, albeit as many
trophies as Arsenal since 1990.
Klopp arrived at Liverpool on a metaphorical donkey with
many keen to hand him their bread and fish in the hope he could work a
miracle.After the initial euphoria of
wins at Chelsea and Man City came the pathetic Sunday lunchtime fare served up
at Vicarage Road.That game was a huge
slap in the face of reality as we all struggled to resign ourselves to the fact
this squad just wasn’t good enough.We
were in tenth place when he joined and only managed to move up two places by
the end of the season. There were two
cup finals to look back on, but still no silverware.After forty-five minutes in Basel, Liverpool
were 1-0 up and well in control against Sevilla.Twenty-five minutes later and the dream was
over.
At the end of the season there was great expectation the new
campaign would bring more hope.Personally I was a little disappointed with the transfer window.I had doubts about Mane and Wijnaldum and
wasn’t convinced we’d moved enough players on. It has taken just a few games for those fears
to be completely allayed..
The transformation has been huge.Already we’re playing some of the most
exciting football this side of Beardsley, Barnes and Aldridge.
The mention of those three is what has prompted me to write
this.I have wonderful memories of the
Dalglish’s 86-91 team with the years between 87-89 seeing us play some of the
best football I’ve ever seen.Paisley’s
late 70’s side was the most efficient and fully deserved the title “the red
machine”.Effective, efficient and
almost impossible to stop.But that late
80’s side played the more exciting football, in my opinion.Not better or worse, just different.
Watching some of those matches again you can be forgiven for
forgetting what a complete force they were in attack.Not a wave, more a tsunami.There were players attacking from everywhere.Because of the attacking instincts of the
midfield Rush and Aldridge played a different role.Unlike every other striker around then they
would drop off and create space for Houghton, Whelan and McMahon to burst
into.Added to that there was Barnes and
Beardsley who also attacked from deep.
Watching Liverpool so far this season reminds me of this
team.We attack from all areas.Henderson, Wijnaldum and Coutinho along with
Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge and Mane.Add to that Clyne and Milner attacking down the flanks and you get the
feeling opposition teams must struggle to work out where the next attack is
coming from.Joel Matip also appears to
want to bomb forward in a way Alan Hansen used to.Chelsea discovered how all-consuming this is
and how difficult it is to repel.
They hunt in packs, they press with ferocious authority and
they pass the ball with an alacrity which makes you wish the ability to pause
live football was not just for those watching tv.
Henderson’s wonder strike at Stamford Bridge has also added
a further facet.If you defend deep in
the hope of smothering the attacks then this will leave space for someone like
Henderson or Coutinho to fire one from long range.
To make up for the lack of big signings Jurgen Klopp has
improved a number of players to give us the effect of new introductions.Milner has been moved to left-back to solve
the problem of the madness that is Alberto Moreno.He has been immense this season.Always a hard worker, Milner can cross a ball
as well as anyone and his ability to understand midfield play has enabled him
to support that part of the play with more intelligence than most
full-backs.Clyne on the other flank
also offers a great attacking threat which is currently more potent than any
other full-back in the country.The
difference between him and Kyle Walker is his willingness to take players
on.This was fully evident to all except
the England manager in the summer, it seems.The current national boss would do well to consider both Liverpool
full-backs for his qualification campaign too.
Time could well serve to consider Klopp’s conversion of
Milner into a left-back as incisive and forward thinking as Paisley’s conversion
of Ray Kennedy from attack to midfield.Kennedy became one of the most revered players of his generation
throughout Europe.Whether Milner will
reach those heights remains to be seen but his value to this team already this
season is almost impossible to calculate.
Mane has really impressed me.Always busy, quick feet and constantly
scurrying in a manner Suarez used to.He
doesn’t have the skill and nous of the Uruguayan but this team seems more
suited to his style than where he moved from.The same can be said for Wijnaldum.He seemed lost at Newcastle and lacking the stomach for the fight, but
under Klopp he now has a purpose, a role and is flourishing under it.
Another improvement Klopp has brought is to bring
competition for the goalkeeping position.He bought Loris Karius from his old club, Mainz, but he unfortunately
picked up an injury during pre-season.We were then back to Mignolet for the start of the season.He can be categorised as ‘decent’ rather than
‘outstanding’.More a shot-stopper than
a modern day keeper and although we’ve had shot stoppers before such as
Clemence, Grobbelaar and Reina, Mignolet just doesn’t command his area in the
way those three did.We have also missed
Reina’s ability to put us on the attack as soon as he picked up the ball.But Mignolet now knows he has to fight for
his place and that can only be healthy for the team.The same for Emre Can who increasingly looks
as if he could be as important to the team as a Gerrard, a Molby or a
Souness.But injury has seen him have to
fight for his way back in and with standards already being set incoming players
soon know what level of play is expected of them.
Jordan Henderson is another player who is really flourishing
under Klopp.Now club captain his role
in the middle of the park seems to really suit him.His passing is improving and he isn’t afraid
to have a shot, as Chelsea found out, and he also seems to be benefiting from
the players around him.Watching him
this season I can’t help but still feel a tinge of regret that Steven Gerrard
wasn’t a few years younger.He’d love
playing in this team and he’d definitely love playing under this manager.But there you are.
It is early days but the performance against Hull City this
weekend certainly soothed some people’s fears we can often perform well against
the big clubs but come unstuck against sides we really should be putting away
with ease.There’s an enjoyment in the
football the players are exhibiting and they seem to have completely have
bought into it, in a way mirrored at Man City.
I thought Klopp’s reaction to the Hull game was very
poignant.He could be seen on eighty
minutes clearly reminding the players there were ten minutes still to go and he
was visibly frustrated the performance had dropped.He confirmed his frustration after the match
and I was taken by the intensity and attention to detail from our boss.
If Man City continue in their current form, along with one
or two other clubs, then goal difference could well be a factor come May.Far better to go into the final game of the
season knowing a win could secure the title rather than find three points is
not enough as we’d need to win by seven or eight goals to stand a chance.
I realise Liverpool fans won’t want Ferguson’s name
mentioned in an article such as this, but it was something he was intently
aware of during United’s title years, as he would often lambast the players during
the season to keep going and try and get that extra goal.In 2012 they lost out on goal difference to
City by eight goals.Surely they
could’ve found an extra eight goals from their thirty-eight matches?
You get the impression Klopp will never let his players rest
on their laurels.That is one of the
major factors which makes him a perfect fit for this club.It has all the hallmarks of the belief system
so strongly instilled in the club by Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Moran, Evans and
Dalglish.
For now, things feel good. In a way similar to the heady
days of 2013-14 we now look forward to every match in the belief of being
entertained in a way we all feel football should do.Clearly nothing has been achieved yet and we
are barely into the new season but what is sport if you cannot dream?
“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but the
media has made it impossible so here you are.If you don’t score in this match I won’t be picking you again”
Malcolm MacDonald, for some, was the archetypal English
centre-forward.Big, strong, and good in
the air.Unlike other “big number nines”
he was extremely quick on the ground as viewers of the iconic 1970’s Superstars
series will confirm.
He first began his career at Fulham, the club he was born
just down the road from.He was one of
the kids who used to hang around the ground looking for autographs from players
such as Bobby Robson. It was Robson who
signed him at Craven Cottage.He moved
to Luton Town in 1969 and then onto Newastle United in the summer of 1971.That season he scored twenty-three goals as
Newcastle finished mid-table.He endeared
himself to the home supporters by scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool on his
home debut.
[video]
January 1972 saw him win England honours for the first time
as he was picked for the under-23 side which took on Wales at Swindon.He lined up alongside Mick Channon, Phil
Parkes, Colin Todd, Ray Kennedy and Tony Currie.He opened the scoring too, in a 2-0
victory.Two further appearances against
Scotland and East Germany were enough to persuade Alf Ramsey to add him to the full
squad for the British Home International Championships.The now defunct competition was between
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and took place during May at the
end of every season.Each team played
each other once to determine the British champions, with England versus Scotland
always being the final fixture.
Ramsey put MacDonald straight into the starting line-up as
England took on Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff.England had just been knocked out of the European Championships losing
the two-legged Quarter-Final to the eventual winners, West Germany.MacDonald lined up alongside players such as
Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Colin Bell, Emlyn Hughes, Norman Hunter and Rodney
Marsh.Hughes, Marsh and Bell scored in
a 3-0 win.A surprise defeat at Wembley
to Northern Ireland when future Arsenal manager, and the man who would sign
MacDonald to the club, Terry Neill scored the only goal of the game, was then
forgotten about when Alan Ball did likewise in a 1-0 win at Hampden against
Scotland.
MacDonald seemed to have done enough to impress England’s
World Cup winning manager and when he scored a hat-trick against Wales for the
under-23’s in November.But England had
plenty of strikers to choose from then with Allan Clarke, Martin Chivers, Mick
Channon and Joe Royle being selected ahead of Supermac.MaDonald didn’t put on another England shirt
until he lined up in Moscow for a friendly against Soviet Union where Bobby
Moore equalled Bobby Charlton’s appearances world record.England had just lost a crucial World Cup
qualifier in Poland just four days before and were pleased to bounce back with
a 2-1 win.
That June appearance was his only cap in 1973 but the summer
of 1974 saw him have another run in the team.England had just suffered the ignominy of failing to qualify for the
1974 World Cup and then lost at home to Italy when Fabio Capello scored.In April MacDonald was selected for the
friendly in Lisbon against Portugal.Playing up front alongside Mick Channon he was unable to get his first
full international goal as the game ended 0-0.Soon after that Alf Ramsey was sacked.
Ramsey had been a fan of MacDonald and had spoken to him
encouraging him to remain patient but assuring him he had a place at this
level.
Joe Mercer was the stop-gap caretaker manager for the Home
Internationals and ignored MacDonald for the wins over Wales and Northern
Ireland but brought him on as a sub for Frank Worthington at Hampden Park where
England lost 0-2.A month later
MacDonald was again a replacement for Worthington and goals from Keegan and
Channon helped England to a 2-2 draw in Yugoslavia.Then Don Revie was named as new England
manager.
MacDonald never knew why Revie didn’t like him but wondered
if it was because he often scored against Leeds when Revie was in charge.
He wasn’t called up for the first two games of Revie’s reign
but got the call when World Champions West Germany were to visit Wembley.MacDonald was in the middle of another
twenty-goal season but when he reported for duty he was greeted by the England
manager with a terse
“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but the
media has made it impossible so here you are.If you don’t score in this match I won’t be picking you again”
Not known for his Shanklyesque powers of motivation so MacDonald
had every reason to believe Revie was serious.Lining up alongside Channon and Keegan, MacDonald finally broke his duck
midway through the second half. Mick Channon took a quick free-kick on the
right wing to Alan Ball and his accurate cross to the far post saw MacDonald
head the ball home for his first ever England goal in his eighth appearance.A 2-0 win had everyone smiling.But in the dressing room afterwards, if Supermac
was to imagine his manager’s sullen exterior was to be relaxed, he was
disappointed.Revie came in and shook all
the players by the hand but when he came to MacDonald he completely blanked him
and walked out.
A month later and Cyprus came to Wembley for the European
Championship qualifiers.When MacDonald
met up with the squad again he was greeted with the same ‘welcome’ from his
manager.
“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but again
the media has made it impossible so here you are.If you don’t score in this match I won’t be
picking you again”.
During the build up to the game Revie was similarly cold towards
the Newcastle striker who was convinced he was like this rather than Revie
trying some reverse psychology on him.The day before the match MacDonald was so bothered by this treatment he
spoke to the captain, Alan Ball and explained how things were.Initially Bally dismissed it but when
MacDonald told him about Revie’s behaviour in the dressing room afterwards he
decided this was not on.So Ball
gathered Colin Bell, Alan Hudson and Kevin Keegan and explained how they were
going to make sure MacDonald scored.Ball said the record number of goals scored in one match for England was
five, with Willie Hall in 1938 being the last player to do it.But no player had done it in a competitive
match.So the plan was to make sure
Malcolm beat the record and scored six goals.MacDonald was stunned at the camaraderie but excited at what the team
might be able to create for him.
Just two minutes into the game and Kevin Keegan was brought
down on the left wing.Alan Hudson took
the free-kick and MacDonald got his head to the ball just ahead of Dave Watson
and England were 1-0 up.One.
During
the celebration Ball came up to MacDonald and reminded him that was goal number
one and five more to go.Ten minutes
before half-time and Colin Bell burst forward to the right edge of the area but
his ball into the box missed everyone.Keegan picked it up on the left, turned a defender and pulled it back
from the bye-line where MacDonald scuffed his shot but with enough power to
beat the keeper.Two
Just before the break MacDonald hit a shot against the post
and could easily have a first half hat-trick.2-0 at the break and it wasn’t long before they added to their tally in
the second half.Paul Madeley brought
the ball into the Cypriot half and exchanged passes with Bell before floating a
ball to the far post where Keegan nodded it down for MacDonald to complete his
hat-trick.Three
Revie then shuffled his pack but instead of taking off
MacDonald he chose to take off Channon and replace him with QPR’s Dave
Thomas.Commentator David Coleman
informed viewers how Thomas was “one of the best crossers of a ball in the
First Division” and immediately we had evidence of this as Ball played him in
down the right and his cross to the edge of the six-yard area was powered home
by the head of MacDonald.Four.
Again
Ball can be seen encouraging MacDonald to keep going with thirty-five minutes
still on the clock.
Within minutes England had the ball in the net again but
this was ruled out as Beattie was adjudged to have kicked the ball out of the
keeper’s hands after chesting it down in the area.The challenge was enough to force the
visitors to bring on a substitute keeper.With just three minutes remaining Thomas played a one-two with Ball on
the right and his cross into the six-yard box was headed in by MacDonald and he’d
become the first England player to score five goals in a competitive
international and the first since the War to do it in any match.Five.
MacDonald did
get the ball in the net after his fourth goal but it was ruled out for
offside.He was ecstatic with his
performance and especially grateful to Keegan and Ball who’d played such a part
in the success.At the end of the game
the electronic scoreboard at Wembley flashed up
“Congratulations
– Supermac 5 Cyprus 0”
As MacDonald
was leaving the pitch he saw Revie over by the touchline, head down and he
shouted over to him
“Read that
and weep, you bastard. Read that and weep”
But Revie
didn’t hear him and as everyone was high on the euphoria of it all the manager repeated
his performance in the dressing room by not even shaking hands with a player
who’d scored five goals in one game.The
only time the manager spoke to the player the whole country was talking about
was when he ordered him out of the bath to speak to the press.
Later in his
autobiography MacDonald would explain how the press seemed strangely cool
towards him afterwards and he couldn’t understand why.Back then players or their agents received
£25 for post-match interviews and a year later when MacDonald met the BBC football
producer and gently suggested his agent hadn’t received the fee, he was
abruptly told Revie had demanded £200.It appeared this was raised via a collection from some of the production
staff, camera, sound and lighting engineers and yet Revie had trousered the lot.
MacDonald
kept his place in the team for the return against Cyprus where Keegan scored
the only goal of the game and then in the goalless draw in Belfast against
Northern Ireland.But he was dropped for
the Wales and Scotland matches as his replacement, David Johnson scored in both
games.
Supermac
would win just three more caps with just two more starting appearances as his
international career ended in Lisbon in November 1975.Six goals from fourteen appearances was a
decent return but he only scored in two games and after the Cyprus success he
never played at Wembley for England again.Revie certainly wasn’t interested in him despite his big money move (£333,333)
to Arsenal in 1976.
A serious knee
injury forced the early termination of MacDonald’s playing career at the age of
29 in 1979 and although he perhaps didn’t achieve the success at international
level that his fame at club level suggested, he can at least claim a record
which may stand for a while yet.
This tournament was one of the most remarkable in living
memory.No one remembers the football,
which was pitiful at best, but they all remember Denmark.They hadn’t originally qualified for the
finals, but thanks to a bit of bother in the Balkans, they were called up and
they won the whole thing.
This was the ninth European Championships, and Sweden were
the hosts.After the qualification
campaign, there were some big political changes which had a major effect on the
participants.
A civil war had broken out in Yugoslavia, which would
eventually lead to the forming of several new countries.The United Nations had imposed economic and cultural
sanctions on the country and so UEFA was duty bound to ban them from taking
part in the finals.From a football
point of view this was a disappointment as they had put together one of the
best sides in their history.But it
opened to door for Denmark, who had finished just 1pt behind the Yugoslavs in
their qualifying group.What was amazing
about this is that UEFA’s decision only came with just 10 days to go before the
start of the tournament.The draw for
the groups had already been made and now England, France and Sweden had to
prepare for different opponents.The
other major change involved the break-up of the Soviet Union.Instead of representing USSR as they had in
all the previous tournaments, eleven of the fifteen ex-republics formed a team
under the banner of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).This team selected players from Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Moldova and Tajikistan.
The eight qualifiers were split into two groups with the top
two in each group going through to the Semi-Final stage.
GROUP A:Sweden, England, Denmark, France
GROUP B:
Netherlands, Scotland, CIS, Germany
Just four stadiums were used
GROUP A
10 June 1992,
Rasunda Stadium, Solna, 29,860
SWEDEN(1)1(Eriksson 24)
FRANCE(0)1(Papin 58)
Sweden: Ravelli; Nilsson, Eriksson, P
Andersson, Bjorklund; Ingesson, Thern, Schwarz, Limpar; Brolin, K Andersson
(Dahlin)
The tournament
kicked off in Stockholm with the hosts up against 1984 winners, France.The French, coached by Michel Platini who
captained their 1984 triumph, were in a state of transition, and the Swedes
believed they had nothing to lose.France
had the better of the opening exchanges without registering many shots on
target. Then after twenty four minutes the Swedes had a corner on their left
and defender Jan Eriksson rose to head, virtually unchallenged, to put the
hosts in front.Just before the break
the French had a great shout for a penalty turned down when Eriksson wrestled
Papin to the ground but the referee obviously decided that sort of contact was
fair.A tournament’s popularity often
hinges on the hosts success, and Sweden held their lead until just before the
hour.Substitute Christian Perez played
a lovely diagonal ball from just inside his own half over the Swedish defence
for Papin the run onto.The prolific
Papin headed it forward and then fired an unstoppable shot past Ravelli to
level things up.Instead of pushing on
from there, the French failed to really trouble the Swedes and both sides
seemed happy to take a point.
11 June 1992,
Malmo Stadium, Malmo, 26,385
DENMARK(0)0
ENGLAND(0)0
Denmark: Schmeichel; Sivebaek, Nielsen, L
Olsen, Andersen; Christofte, Jensen, Vilfort; B Laurdup, Poulsen, Christensen
The 1990 had
been notable for the negativity of the football it contained.This tournament would continue in this vein,
starting with this match in Malmo.England’s preparation was hampered by late injuries to John Barnes and
Gary Stevens.This left Graham Taylor’s
plans in tatters as he didn’t have a recognised right-back for the match.To everyone’s surprise he gave the job to
Keith Curle.Curle, a central defender
at Man City, had only made his debut as a sub against CIS in April and here he
was starting a game in a major international tournament, out of position.
Denmark
failed to work on a potential weakness, in fact we never discovered if either
side had any weaknesses as there were so few attacks.The game ended goalless and the group was
all-square after the opening round of matches.
England were
again in Malmo for their second game, against the group favourites France.Neither side wanted to make a mistake and the
game will probably be remembered for two incidents, both involving Stuart
Pearce.The first occurred in England’s
penalty area as they cleared the ball, French defender Basil Boli elbowed
Pearce in the face.The referee failed
to spot it, although the blood dripping from Pearce could hardly hide it.Moments later, Pearce struck one of his
famous thunderous free-kicks from about thirty yards out and it rattled the
crossbar.That was it, and now both
teams would need to win their final matches to progress.
Denmark: Schmeichel; Sivebaek, Nielsen, L
Olsen, Andersen; Christofte, Jensen (H Larsen), Vilfort; B Laudrup, Poulsen,
Christensen (Frank)
In contrast
to the dross served up so far, this game was really entertaining.You wouldn’t have thought so by the
scoreline, but both teams really went at each other.Sweden had the better attacking options, in
Brolin, Andersson and Dahlin and their attacks started to have a real energy
about them.The Danes gave as good as
they got too, but on fifty eight minutes Brolin finished off another bright
move for Sweden and they turned out to be the only goal of the game.The Swedes were now hopeful of winning the
group, whereas the Danes had been happy to make up the numbers but could they
really beat France to go through?
In Stockholm,
England needed to beat Sweden to be certain of progressing to the
Semi-Finals.They could still go through
if they drew 2-2 as long as the France v Denmark ended goalless.England had yet to score in the tournament,
but just four minutes in David Platt converted a cross from the left and they
were off and running.England were still
leading at half-time and relatively comfortable.The second half, though, was a completely
different experience.Sweden came out
all guns blazing and their free-flowing attacking football gradually made the
England defence more and more jittery.Jan Eriksson headed in the equaliser just six minutes after the
break.Ten minutes later came the moment
few England fans will ever forget.With
England needing to score again, manager Graham Taylor decided he needed to take
off Gary Lineker (80 caps, 48 goals) and replace him with Arsenal’s Alan Smith
(13 caps, 2 goals).It was a gamble that
backfired, Sweden scored next and neither Lineker or Smith ever played for
England again.Graham Taylor never
managed England to a major tournament again.With eight minutes to go, Ingesson, Dahlin and Brolin just passed the
ball past the English defence and Brolin finished the move to give Sweden
another win.
Denmark: Schmeichel; Sivebaek, Nielsen
(Piechnik), L Olsen, Andersen; Christofte, Jensen, Larsen; B Laudrup, Frank
(Elstrup), Poulsen
The French
needed to win this game, although a draw would be enough as long as they scored
as many goals as England.As with their
opening match against Sweden, France created the most early on yet conceded
first.Denmark, possibly playing with
the freedom of a side who thought this could be their last game, were first out
of the traps when they took the lead in the opening ten minutes through Henrik
Larsen.Denmark still lead at the break
and still looked on top even though Papin equalised on the hour.Cantona crossed from the right to the far
edge of the area, where Fernandez controlled the ball on his chest and instead
of playing it back into the box, as he shaped to do, he backhealed it to Papin
who curled a beautiful shot past Schmeichel to equalise.At this stage, France were going through with
Sweden.With twelve minutes to go, Lars
Elstrup banged Denmark back in front and now the French were worried.Denmark didn’t let go of their grip of the
game and with the Swedes beating England, the two Scandinavian teams went
through.From a side that thought they
were getting the summer off, Denmark were now through to the Semis.
GROUP B
12 June 1992,
Ullevi, Gothenburg, 35,720
NETHERLANDS(0)1(Bergkamp 75)
SCOTLAND(0)0
Netherlands:
van Breukelen; van Aerle, R Koeman, Rijkaard, van Tiggelen; Wouters (Jonk),
Roy, Witschge, Gullit; Bergkamp (Winter), van Basten
In
Gothenburg, Netherlands set about defending their trophy against Scotland.Expected to brush the Scots aside,
Netherlands struggled to keep control of the match.Both sides had chances but it was the holders
who got the all important goal as Dennis Bergkamp prodded his shot past Andy
Goram.The goal came with fifteen
minutes to go, and it may have seemed tough on the Scots, who had given a good
account of themselves, but it was just what the Dutch wanted.
12 June 1992,
Idrottsparken, Norrkoping, 17,410
CIS(0)1(Dobrovolski 64 pen)
GERMANY(0)1(Hassler 90)
CIS: Kharine; Chernyshov, O Kuznetsov, Tsveiba; Kanchelskis,
Shalimov (Onopko), Dobrovolski, Mikhailychenko, Lyutyi (Ivanov); D Kuznetsov,
Kolyvanov
In Norrkoping
World Champions, Germany, were up against a CIS side who probably weren’t that
different from any side representing USSR.In the first half, Rudi Voller broke his arm attempting to foul one of
the CIS players, but the half-time score was 0-0.CIS then broke the deadlock as Igor
Dobrovolski converted a penalty after he was fouled.CIS looked as if they might pull off a major
shock, but a free-kick to Germany in the 90th minute, saw Thomas
Hassler equalise to give the Germans a point.
After their
decent performance against the European Champions, Scotland moved onto the
World Champions.Germany, managed by
Bertie Vogts, took the lead after twenty nine minutes through Karl-Heinz Riedle,
who would later play for Fulham and Liverpool.Just into the second half and Stefan Effenberg’s cross hits Malpas and goes
in and Germany were now 2-0 up.Scotland
couldn’t find a way back into the game and were now preparing to go home.
15 June 1986,
Ullevi, Gothenburg, 34,400
NETHERLANDS(0)0
CIS(0)0
Netherlands: van Breukelen; van Aerle, R Koeman,
Rijkaard, van Tiggelen; Wouters, Roy, Witschge, Gullit (van’t Schip); Bergkamp
(Viscaal), van Basten
In
Gothenburg, CIS set their stall out for a draw and got exactly what they were
after.It was a dangerous gamble as even
victory over the Scots in their final game would not guaranteed their
progress.Nethelands had the better of
the chances but Dmitri Kharin was in great form in the CIS goal.Netherlands now just needed a draw against
Germany to go into the Semis.
Since meeting
in the World Cup Final in 1974, these two had met four times in major
tournaments. They met each other in the
1980 and 1988 Euros, winning one each.This time the Dutch were in good form.Frank Rijkaard put them in front after just two minutes.After fifteen minutes, Robert Witschge scored
direct from a free-kick and the Dutch were 2-0 up. Klinsmann got a goal back for Germany just
into the second half, but the Dutch were rarely troubled and Bergkamp scored
their third in the 72nd minute.The Germans now had to rely on CIS not beating Scotland
The CIS had
gambled on being defensive and gaining draws against the Dutch and Germans,
relying on their confidence in being able to beat Scotland.The Scots were already out but in this game
they provided their finest football.Paul McStay put them in front after seven minutes and then ten minutes
later Brian McClair doubled the lead.They rounded the victory off when Gary McAllister scored from the
penalty spot and Scotland could, once again, go home from a tournament early
but with their heads held high.For CIS
this was the last time they played as a unified country.
Sweden were
buoyed by the Germans defeat against Netherlands, but soon realised how
injuries had weakened them that day.Back to full strength, the Germans put on the style.Thomas Hassler scored another trade-mark
free-kick.Riedle then made it 2-0 after
59 minutes and the game seemed to have been won.Brolin converted a penalty for Sweden just
five minutes later, but they were still being overrun in midfield.Two minutes from time, Riedle grabbed his second
goal of the game and Germany now dreamed of a World Cup/European Championship
double as they had achieved in the ‘70’s.Kennet Andersson headed another goal back for the home side, but unfortunately
for the Stockholm crowd they couldn’t force extra time.Germany were now in their third major final
in the last four competitions and were looking like favourites.For Sweden, they had produced one of their
finest tournament performances ever.
22 June 1988,
Ullevi, Gothenburg, 37,450
NETHERLANDS(1)2(Bergkamp 23,
Rijkaard 86)
DENMARK(2)2(Larsen 5, 33)
Denmark won
5-4 on penalties
Netherlands: van Breukelen; van Tiggelen, R
Koeman, Rijkaard, F de Boer (Kieft); Wouters, Roy (van’t Schip), Witschge, Gullit;
van Basten, Bergkamp
Denmark: Schmeichel; Sivebaek, Piechnik, L
Olsen,, Andersen (Christiansen); Christofte, Jensen, Vilfort, Larsen; B Laudrup
(Elstrup), Poulsen
Penalties
Netherlands: Koeman, van
Basten, Bergkamp, Rijkaard, Witschge
The Dutch
were now very confident of retaining their trophy, especially as they were up
against Denmark who had, had their bags packed since they lost to Sweden.The Danes shouldn’t have even been there, so
they could hardly want to get to the final more than the Dutch, could they?
Brian Laudrup’s
cross from the right wing was headed in by Henrik Larsen at the back post and
Denmark were in front in the opening five minutes.Bergkamp then equalised almost twenty minutes
later.Witschge chipped the ball into
the area where Gullit headed it back to Bergkamp on the edge of the area and he
fired his shot past Schmeichel.But the
Danes came back just ten minutes later when Vilfort crossed from the left to
Laudrup who headed back where Ronald Koeman’s poor headed clearance fell
straight to Larsen to beat van Breukelen again.Denmark lead at half-time and were largely untroubled during the second
half too.With just four minutes to go,
Frank Rijkaard finally equalised for Netherlands when the Danes failed to clear
a corner to take the game into extra-time.The Dutch were so close to going out, but now they had thirty minutes to
try and win the game.They couldn’t make
any further inroads, the Danes hung on and we now had the lottery of a
shootout.
Ronald Koeman
was first up for the Dutch and he scored.Larsen also made no mistake.Up
stepped Marco van Basten, top scorer four years earlier but without a goal this
time round.His shot was saved by Peter
Schmeichel.Poulsen scored for Denmark
and they now held the advantage.Bergkamp, Rijkaard and Witschge all scored the Netherlands, as did
Elstrup and Vilfort.It then fell to Kim
Christofte to put the Danes into the final and he didn’t miss.Against all odds possible, Denmark had
reached the European Championship Final.They had deserved their place too, as they certainly weren’t outplayed
by the holders and could now continue their amazing fairytale.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
26 June 1992,
Ullevi, Gothenburg, 37,800
DENMARK(1)2(Jensen 18,
Vilfort 78)
GERMANY(0)0
Denmark: Schmeichel; Sivebaek (Christiansen),
L Olsen, Piechnik, Nielsen; Christofte, Jensen, Vilfort, Larsen; B Laudrup,
Poulsen
Apocryphal
stories had the Danes on the beach at the beginning of June.Whether that’s true or not is not certain,
but they cannot have been preparing for what they were now involved in, when
their seasons ended in May.Germany were
overwhelming favourites.They fully
expected to add the European Championship to their World Cup trophy from Italia
’90.Germany created several chances in
the opening twenty minutes, but it was Denmark who opened the scoring.John Jensen scored it, only his second ever goal
for the national side.1-0 to Denmark at
the break, and people around Europe were starting to contemplate whether it
really could happen.The second half
just became more and more frustrating for the Germans as you could visibly see
them getting desperate and the Danes growing in confidence.The Germans always an aura around them as if
they were lucky, and while the gap was only one goal, there was always the
prospect of them getting back into it.That hope well and truly faded in the 78th minute when Kim
Vilfort shot Denmark into a 2-0 lead and the miracle had happened.
CONCLUSION
One of the
most remarkable stories of international football and the sort of thing only
thought possible in books or movies, Denmark had turned up for a party they
weren’t originally invited to, and walked off with the ‘best dressed’
prize.They probably had their bags
packed after their second match but the fairytale just went on and on.To add to the image of fantasy, Kim Vilfort,
who scored the winning goal, had just come back from visiting his daughter who
was ill with leukaemia.They also did it
without one of the best players in Europe at the time, Michael Laudrup.
Denmark had
probably had better, more talented teams during the ‘80’s than this one, but
somehow this was just meant to be.It
was their time.They were average
against a poor England side in their opening game, played well and lost to the
Swedes and then it just turned for them.The Germans were stunned, they later admitted to being too complacent
about their chances.The Dutch played
their best football against Germany, but seemed to freeze against the
Danes.The Swedish players did their
country proud too, in a group they were not expecting to get out of.
Scotland also
can be proud of their efforts, ultimately in vain, and CIS lacked a decent
goalscorer as they could’ve at least tried to have a go in their early matches.
But it was England and France who had most to regret about their tournament
performances which contained almost no high points at all.
