Today I'm going back 26 years to 1995 and England's friendly international match against Portugal as part of the build up to the following summer's Euro96 competition. The Wembley crowd of only 28,592 anticipated a tight contest as Terry Venables' side was ranked 20th at the time by FIFA whereas their Portuguese opponents were ranked only a little higher at 16th.
The programme cover star is, of course, Teddy Sheringham who, ironically, played no part in the match. Sheringham's career began way back in 1983 at Millwall and he played in the top flight for Millwall when they spent two seasons in the First Division in the late 1980's but he seemed destined for bigger things. However, when Millwall were relegated in 1990 he stayed for another full season before finally moving to Nottingham Forest. One can only assume that top flight managers wondered whether he could cut it with the big boys. Brian Clough, always a good judge of a player, was the one who took the plunge and "Edward" Sheringham lasted only one season at Forest before moving on to Tottenham for the first of two spells there. After 197 appearances and 98 goals for Spurs, Sir Alex Ferguson took him to Manchester United for the most successful part of his career. Teddy was part of United's treble winning team and indeed it was he who scored United's late late leveller in the 1999 European Cup Final before the drama of Solkskjaer's even later winner. After United, Sheringham returned to Spurs for a second spell (a further 80 appearances and 26 goals). When leaving Spurs aged 37, few would have believed that he had a further five seasons left in him but he proved his longevity with Portsmouth, West Ham United and then Colchester United before finally hanging up his boots. Sheringham is currently the eleventh-highest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League with 146 goals, and is the competition's 19th-highest appearance maker. He holds the record as the oldest outfield player to appear in a Premier League match (40 years and 272 days) and the oldest player to score in a Premier League match (40 years and 268 days). He was capped 51 times for England scoring 11 goals. Since retiring Teddy has managed Stevenage as well as playing in international poker tournaments with some success plus his unforgettable appearance as "the tree" on TV's The Masked Singer.
England struggled early on against Portugal and withstood something of an onslaught before taking the lead in the featured game just before half time. A Gary Neville cross from the left was nodded back by Les Ferdinand to the onrushing Steve Stone who lashed the ball home from the edge of the D. It was Stone's second goal for England on only his third appearance. In the second half Portuguese knowhow finally bore fruit when Paulo Alves scored the equaliser in the 58th minute. It was destined to finish all square but the second half in particular was quality and boded well for England's chances in the forthcoming European Championships. England nearly stole the game late on when debutant Gareth Southgate headed against the crossbar. I wonder whatever happened to him?
CRB Match No. 1002
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