Today I'm going back just one year to 2021 and the Round of 16 match at the Euro2020 European Championships between England and Germany. It was played at Wembley before a limited capacity crowd which was officially announced as being 41,973 but which looked and felt much bigger. With hindsight, and following the organisational shambles that was the Final, I wonder how many people broke into the Stadium without a ticket for the Germany game too?
I have previously shown the front cover of the Tournament brochure which was issued with a slightly differing cover and contents depending on the city in which the games were played. I have the London and Glasgow editions but decided not to buy those relating to the other cities around Europe that hosted matches because they were largely the same. Depicted today is the Official Tournament Magazine, a publication that was similar in style to the programmes but was published much earlier and contained numerous glossy photographs. The much lauded "Free Giant Wallchart inside" was utterly useless as there was no space to write in the names of the teams qualifying for the knockout phase. Well done to the design department for that own goal!
I have reviewed England v Germany (and even West Germany) match memories previously but not this particular game from last Summer. Euro2020 had been delayed by exactly a year because of the Covid19 global pandemic, hence Euro2020 being played in 2021 (I imagine that they couldn't afford to write off all the merchandise carrying the wrong date). I'd originally applied for and been allocated tickets to half a dozen matches but, due to the Covid-related capacity restrictions proposed in the run up to the tournament, my tickets were progressively withdrawn and refunds applied. If I wanted to go to matches in the tournament I now had to apply and take my chances with everyone else but I wasn't hopeful. I had originally applied directly to UEFA for my tickets rather than going through the England Supporters Club of which I am a member so you can imagine my horror when I was informed that England Supporters Club members who had successfully applied for tickets in the original ballot would be given priority on the reduced availability tickets. No amount of complaining to the good people at the Supporters Club would convince them that my case was on a par with the rest of the Supporters Club members but, despite their refusal to prioritise me, I think that my pleadings did get listened to as I received last minute phone calls the night before and even on the morning of England games asking me if I still wanted a ticket. Did I? Does Nick Pope shit in the woods? I was in luck on this occasion and I was going to the most important England v Germany game for years.
England had come through Group D as winners without setting the earth on fire, beating Croatia and the Czech Republic 1-0 and only managing to draw 0-0 with Scotland in a game that the Jocks treated as a moral victory. Germany meanwhile had come through the Group F "Group of Death" in second place behind Group winners France and ahead of Portugal on their 4-2 head-to-head result. Indeed the Germans had come close to being eliminated when behind to Hungary with just six minutes remaining before snatching a leveller. But now it was the knockout phase. Matches don't come any bigger than England versus Germany in tournament football and I had a ticket to this one!
The first half proved to be tense, exciting but goalless with both sides creating good chances. There wasn't much to choose between the two teams. With just 15 minutes remaining England struck the first blow through Raheem Sterling. Despite the reduced capacity, the Stadium erupted. 1-0! Soon afterwards, Germany's normally reliable goal machine Thomas Muller was clean through and somehow contrived to drag the ball wide letting England off the hook! With four minutes remaining and with full back Luke Shaw to the fore once again, a ball to substitute Jack Grealish was crossed for Harry Kane to somehow nod home. There was no coming back from that one for the Germans and England were through to the Quarter-Final.
England's Quarter-Final opponents were the Ukraine, beaten 4-0 in Rome before England returned to Wembley for a Semi-Final against Denmark. I had a ticket for that game too but had to give it up thanks to something else that I had secured together with my ticket for that Germany game: Covid19! Don't you just love a crowd?
CRB Match No. 2433
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