Today I'm going back 21 years to the year 2000 and England's World Cup Qualifier at Wembley. This game was a milestone fixture in that it was the last professional match to be played out in front of the twin towers at the original Wembley Stadium. The old stadium was sold out for one last time with the attendance being 76,377. I managed to see 104 games at the old Wembley as well as a U2 concert and I was sad to see the old place torn down. It was well by it's sell by date however and the new stadium with the arch is one of the best in the world today. My favourite game at the old Wembley was surely the England 4 Netherlands 1 game during Euro96.
Fittingly perhaps, both teams played in the colours that they wore for the most famous football match at the old Wembley: the 1966 World Cup Final. England in red shirts and white shorts with Germany in their first choice kit of white shirts and black shorts. I remember that the Gods were angry that day and that it rained heavily and incessantly throughout the game. Sadly for England, playing under the management of Kevin Keegan for what turned out to be the last time, old foes Germany came out on top thanks to a 30 yard first half free kick goal from Didi Hamann which skidded past David Seaman into the back of the net to give the Germans the box seat in terms of qualification for the 2002 World Cup to be held in Japan and South Korea. It was to be the last goal ever scored at the old Wembley. Little did we know it at the time but England's revenge in Munich was going to be brutal and so sweet. But that was all in the future.
England went into the game ranked 14th in FIFA's world rankings whereas the Germans were 9th. Keegan hadn't been England manager for that long. He had come into the post on a wave of public support for his passionate management style but that just never seemed to enough when up against the opposition's tactical experts. In all Keegan was England manager on only 18 occasions and he finished with a record of: Won 7 / Drawn 7 / Lost 4. Keegan left the stadium to a chorus of boos and he famously resigned in the toilets at Wembley within the hour. It wasn't only Keegan making his last England bow however. Both Graeme le Saux and skipper Tony Adams would never play for England again. The Germans had an inexperienced manager of their own too: Rudi Voller was having only his third game in charge of the national side but his record was: Played 3 Won 3.
Also in England's line-up that day was defensive midfielder Gareth Southgate winning his 39th cap. It would be another 20 years before England would beat Germany at Wembley in a competitive match against the Germans by which time Southgate was the England boss himself. Conducting himself with a calm and thoughtful assurance, Southgate is many people's choice for Prime Minister let alone England Manager. He seems so suited to leading his country despite never really setting the world on fire in his club management days. Will it be "Arise Sir Gareth" after Qatar next year?
CRB Match No. 1195
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