Alan Shearer Explains How England Could Have Won The Euros | FourFourTwo Meets...
Alan Shearer was talking to FourFourTwo via Topps, who are the official stickers and trading cards provider for UEFA EURO 2024. No tournament is complete without a sticker collection, so head to Topps.com to find out everything about the must-have collection and to buy yours. Topps’ collectibles are also available to buy now from all good retailers.
Category
🥇
SportTranscript
00:00So Alan, welcome to 442. We're going to do a little Euro 96 look back.
00:17Good.
00:18Iconic, semi-iconic tournament for England.
00:19Good times.
00:20Indeed. Pre-tournament then, presumably you would be raring to go. You were in the prime
00:26of your career. England had missed USA 94 and there had been no competitive games for
00:30two years. So you must have been ready to go.
00:33I was ready to go but I hadn't scored in those competitive games leading up to the tournament
00:38for two years. So it was about 13 games if I remember rightly. So I was ready to go but
00:43I was also under huge pressure from everyone, including my teammates, the manager, the fans
00:51of the number of forwards that were around then that were also scoring goals on a regular
00:57basis. I'd scored for Blackburn, I think I'd got 34 that season. So it wasn't as if I wasn't
01:04scoring but I just couldn't score for England leading up to the tournament. Then Terry Venables
01:08pulled me to one side about a month before the tournament and said to me, whatever happens
01:14you will be my number one centre forward and you will start that first game against Switzerland.
01:19I just thought wow, for him to have that belief in me. I felt as if I couldn't let
01:26him down and I had to go out. Luckily I scored in the first game against Switzerland and
01:33then went on to finish top scorer. God knows what would have happened if I hadn't scored
01:37but I owed Terry a lot for having that belief in me.
01:42I suppose the story of Euro 96 starts for England in China. Can you remember why that
01:47was picked as a destination for the pre-tournament warm-up games?
01:49I haven't got a clue. China and Hong Kong. I remember more about it in Hong Kong in the
01:55dentist chair than I do the games to be honest. We'd finished and we were on our way home
02:03and we decided to go out or we were let out to go out for a few drinks. That turned into
02:08a few more and a few more and then before we know it, there was one or two in the dentist
02:13chair and things had gone a bit too far. I was there but I was at the back. I could
02:20see everything happening but I was hiding away at the back. I just thought this is not
02:27going to be a good look if this gets out. It did and then all hell broke loose. To be
02:34fair to the manager Terry, he stuck by us and he used that as a rod really for us to
02:43repay him. Everyone loved him. We all respected him. He was an amazing coach and a genius
02:52as a man-manager and he used that to his strength. We all got together and we realised what had
03:01happened. We realised how bad it looked and being front page instead of back page. He
03:10used that to his advantage and it worked because as I said we all respected him and got on
03:16great with him and we were all determined not to let him down. Did the problem start
03:21when Terry sent Brian Robson to be the chaperone for that evening? It's not a good idea really.
03:26Robbo was renowned for having as good time as anyone. He was a great bloke Robbo and
03:32still is obviously. Probably not the wisest of ideas to send Robbo out and keep an eye
03:38on us. Everyone loved him and he got on with everyone as well but we all know Robbo did
03:47like a pint or two. Very sensible move from you as a 25-year-old to back away when you
03:52noticed things were getting a bit light. I don't know if that was through luck or other
03:56people I was with. I was with the Umbro guys. Good friend of mine Simon Marsha was with
04:01us and he was the one that kept me back at the bar rather than going into the centre
04:08into the dentist chair. We'll get to the football in a bit but I'm still very interested in
04:12China because a lot obviously happened. The flight home, Gaza says in his book that he
04:18was asleep on the plane until someone slapped him in the face. I don't know who that was.
04:23Well he did say actually it was you. I don't know if we need to get the lawyers involved.
04:29Was that yourself? Because that caused a bit of an excitable Gaza on the flight. I don't
04:35think Gaza needed any prompting to be excitable. Honestly to this day I couldn't tell you whether
04:42it was me or not. I wouldn't take his word for it. Someone must have done something to
04:49upset him. He didn't need much prompting did he? Honestly I couldn't tell you whether it
04:58was me or not and I'm not just saying that. Fair enough. It was an interesting summer
05:02for yourself as well because your club future was up in the air. Can you remember what your
05:05frame of mind was? Because that would have presumably been quite a big distraction but
05:09obviously it didn't distract you when the tournament actually started. No it wasn't
05:12a distraction at all because I just said I'm putting everything on hold until after the
05:17tournament and that's exactly what I did. I knew how important the tournament was. I
05:23knew how much I had to go out and score and I couldn't let anything else get in the way
05:27of that. As tough as it was, it was parked until after the tournament. I didn't speak
05:36to anyone regarding my future at club level at all during the tournament and it was all
05:41going to be done after it. Did you think you were leaving Blackburn though? Not really
05:45no. I knew that I had big decisions to make but there was also still an opportunity or
05:50a chance that I was going to stay at Blackburn. I hadn't a clue what I was going to do. I
05:56knew that I had chances. I knew that we'd sort of finished further down the league than
06:02I wanted to do after winning the league the season before. But no honestly I didn't have
06:09a clue what I was going to do. Does Alan Shearer get nervous before games? He'd have been forgiven
06:13for being nervous before. No, excited not nervous. They're not in the stomach but I
06:22think that's a good thing. I don't think that's nerves. I think that was excitement rather
06:25than anything but I never really got nervous. I just wanted to get out there and get started.
06:31Where does the Switzerland goal rank? A huge relief. I think in terms of importance it
06:37was one of the most important goals I ever scored. I mean it wasn't one of the better
06:42goals. It was a good pass, it was a good run and a decent finish. But in terms of importance
06:47yeah right right up there. Was the Scotland game the biggest game of your career to date
06:53at that stage do you think? Not really no. In terms for England or club level? I think
06:59just the magnitude of playing Scotland and both teams had drawn their opening games.
07:04It just felt like a massive game at the time. No it was a huge game. I mean in terms of
07:09being the most important in my career probably not. But in terms of it being a big game yeah
07:16it was big. I mean all England Scotland games whether it's Wembley or Hampden or wherever
07:21it may be are big games. But that game could have went either way as well. I mean we hadn't played
07:28fantastically well against Switzerland. We drew the game. We didn't play really well either
07:35against Scotland. We got a little bit of luck with them missing the penalty because if they
07:38score that penalty then who knows. They miss it and then within a few minutes we're up at the
07:42other end and Gaza scores that brilliant goal. And it's really funny actually because not many
07:48people remember who scored the first goal. Obviously I do but everyone remembers and
07:52rightly so because that was such an iconic moment in English football to do it against
07:58Scotland at Wembley in a major tournament, Gaza. I mean the brilliance of the goal was
08:05something else as not many people could have done that if any. There'd been calls for him to be
08:09dropped before the game but you did just feel he had that moment of brilliance in him and so it
08:14proved him. Yeah I mean there was plenty of calls for him not even being in the squad. I mean
08:21Terry knew him better than anyone and he loved Terry. He had a respect for him and it was vice
08:27versa. So I think Terry knew that Gaza owed him and we all owed him and again it was how good he
08:37was at the man management thing Terry and using that to his advantage and the team's advantage.
08:42So if anyone was going to do that then it was going to be Gaza. And when he did score your
08:46reaction was brilliant. You ran straight to the bottle and did the dentist chair. We did the
08:50dentist chair. That was all planned. Whoever was going to be nearest to whoever scored then
08:58yeah that celebration was always planned and well planned and it worked out pretty well yeah.
09:02And obviously just prior to that was Gary McAllister's missed penalty. The moving ball,
09:07did you see that at the time? Didn't see it at all no I didn't see it. I just was obviously I
09:13wasn't far behind it but I didn't see the ball move at all until after the game yeah. Did you
09:19chat about that in the dressing room with the players? Did anyone reference that? Not that I
09:22can remember to be honest no. I mean who was the guy that tried to claim that he moved it? Uri Geller.
09:28That's it Uri Geller yeah. I remember reading about that nonsense but I don't remember it too
09:34much being mentioned in the dressing room no. The following game Holland they were the tournament
09:38favourites. 92 favourites to win. England's performance was like shockingly good. Did it
09:45take you by surprise or did you feel like England had a performance like that? No I just I felt as
09:50if there was something special happening before the game on the way there because the atmosphere
09:54was sort of building after the Scotland game you know the confidence and the belief in the country
09:58and the thousands of people that started to line the streets when we got within a mile or two of
10:04Wembley. The music got a bit louder on the bus you know and the atmosphere on the way to the game
10:09and everyone else was getting that a little bit more excited but I didn't see us putting in that
10:15performance against them. No I mean I felt we could win but not as convincingly as we did.
10:21That was probably the best England atmosphere I played in and without doubt I think a highlight
10:29of my career with England and I just the atmosphere during the game before the game
10:36and particularly after was just it was off the charts and it was when we went back to the hotel
10:41as well you know we had such a great atmosphere and we had such a great squad and I think that
10:45was probably the first time we felt we could perhaps go on and win this. Your second goal
10:51against the Dutch was that the best team goal you've ever been involved in? You overloaded them
10:55and found the extra man which was you and you powered it into the top corner? Yeah I mean Terry
11:00as I've mentioned Terry a few times because of how good he was I mean we talk now about how Pep and
11:08Jürgen changed systems, changed players. Terry was doing that back in 96 you know we played three or
11:14four different systems during that game and we knew we were going to change, we knew we were
11:18going to flip into a three at the back or four at the back or Gary Neville was going to push further
11:23upfield or whatever it was we knew that we were going to play different systems and that's how
11:28good he was but to do it against an opposition how good they were and to make them look as poor
11:34as we did then we felt that was in us but not as much as that. Patrick Kluivert famously scored
11:42late and sent Scotland home. Yeah that was the perfect evening wasn't it because us winning,
11:47scoring four, winning the game and then us conceding one which ultimately knocked Scotland
11:52out didn't it so it was a perfect evening yeah. The Venables regarded Spain as stronger than Italy,
11:59Germany and Holland and that was who England played in the quarterfinal, it was the first
12:04time England had experienced a golden goal situation as well, how did that affect you
12:08as a player did you think it sort of tightened things up in extra time? Yeah it was all a bit,
12:12it wasn't a great game that I mean it was a bit tight and tense and could have went either way
12:18but what I remember that about that is I know I'd scored the first penalty but I was also aware
12:26of who was coming next you know, I knew that Stuart Pearce was coming after his miss in 90,
12:32him and Chris Waddle are missing, for someone to step up again and say give me the penalty
12:39and it was redemption time if you like I mean I can't tell you the pressure that you're under and
12:45the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot is the longest walk you'll ever make in your
12:51life, there's a million things going through your head, when it's going well there's a million
12:58things going through and when you haven't, when you've missed a penalty like he has and the size
13:03of it and the enormity of missing a penalty in a World Cup then to say oh all right I'll take
13:08another one and I mean I think we were all probably as worried as he was and you can tell
13:15even now if you look at the pictures of it or the videos of it the reaction and the relief on
13:20his face more than anything is incredible. Nothing was said of in the Spanish press of Herrero and
13:27Nadal who missed the Spanish penalties and they've rarely been asked about it afterwards yet
13:31Southgate, Waddle, Pearce they get asked about, I suppose that tells us a lot really about the
13:36English mentality towards... Well I mean it might be different in their country, the questions
13:42in Spain would have been as probably as intense as they were here when Waddle and
13:49Pearce missed I guess but just because we're in our country I suppose we focus more on that but
13:57yeah I mean I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy you know missing a penalty of that size and
14:04I mean you've got millions of people watching on television all around the world
14:08and in England or wherever you've got the 90,000 in the stadium who are watching you
14:15but I think you're under more pressure because of the 10 or 20 guys behind you and your team who
14:21you don't want to let down you know and that's why you're under the most pressure so it's a
14:27bloody tough walk that is but it's probably even tougher if you haven't hit the back of the net,
14:32thankfully I've never experienced that. I mean in thankful England won a penalty shootout and
14:37they set up a famous game against Germany in the semi-final, is it true you forgot the Three
14:42Lions tape to play on the bus on the way to Wembley, is that story true? No not that I remember
14:47no I wasn't aware it was my job I mean I wasn't captain then in 96 so I was captain a couple of
14:55months after that but it wasn't my, I don't think that was my job to remember that but I always
15:00remember those coach journeys from the hotel to the ground they were brilliant I mean because
15:05you're on your own you're in the zone the music's blasting and everything else and
15:09yeah there were good moments but no I can't remember that no. Can you remember when you
15:13first heard the song and it caught on after the Scotland game I think? I remember yeah when we
15:19were asked to take part in it I'm thinking what am I doing getting involved in a video of I mean
15:26you can you know when you go into cup finals and you see all these players making prats of
15:29themselves when they go into get involved in this song and that's I think I don't I'm not
15:35skinnering the deal you know I was thinking but then it was such an iconic song I mean even now
15:40fans are singing it before the Euros and what have you for England so in a strange way it was great
15:46to be a part of yeah. Do you ever pop it on quietly? I can't remember the last time I played it no but
15:52I was forever playing it during U96 even at night time you know it was blasting out of my room yeah.
15:58So between 66 and 96 it was obviously the 30 years of hurt England had played Germany 13 times lost
16:04nine of those games won two friendlies yet we played them the same final you scored after 133
16:10seconds did you think this is it we're destined to get the final? Yeah I think we thought that
16:15after Holland you know and then to win a penalty shootout against Spain so you just you know when
16:21you just get that feeling that this might just be it and then me scoring after a minute and a half
16:27yeah in the semi-final yeah we got the feeling that that was it but we knew because of who they
16:34were and what they were Germany at times against good opposition you're gonna have to suffer and
16:38it's yeah I suppose you need a little bit of luck here and there they could have won it we could have
16:45won it with Gaza in extra time but then it goes down to penalties again yeah. The game became
16:53you know they equalised the game became tense but I felt the extra time England who were naturally
16:58a more attacking team they seemed to go for it was that instruction from Terry Venables to let's try
17:02and get this done with the golden goal and extra time? Yeah I think so yeah I mean that was that
17:06was Terry was always positive that was always his mentality was that we were better than them we
17:11could take the game more to them we had we had more energy and but it's you have your penalty
17:20takers but very very rarely are those you know still on the pitch at times you know you've got
17:27I don't know you you look at tiredness or you look at whatever but if I remember rightly I mean there
17:32were 10 unbelievable penalties from five from us and and five from Germany and then you're into
17:39I'm reluctant to say they also ran but then you're into the guys who really don't want to
17:43take a penalty and it was one where okay and you can see one or two heads going down when the
17:52manager's who's looking around to who wants to take the penalty after the first five that are
17:58chosen or who are the first five who have said yeah and practiced but then you're into I think
18:06you're in the luck land really of what happens after that. Those players you say who put their
18:12heads down do you remember the conversation do you hold any resentment towards those lads who
18:16didn't want to step up? No never because if you if you're asked you've got to be you've got to
18:22be honest in that situation because it is really tough it's really hard you know that that if you
18:28and if you've never taken penalties and you've never been in that situation then the manager
18:33looks at you said you want one and or if you're putting your head down in the hope that the
18:37manager doesn't ask you because you don't want to be looked upon as weak I guess but then you're
18:44into who's brave or who's stupid I guess and Gareth was one of the brave ones and sort of put his hand
18:49up and said and I guess maybe in hope because think that it might it probably won't get past
18:55the five that have put their hands up so yeah I remember it well and looking around and thinking
19:03okay we probably should be all right here because I was I was confident with who we'd had because
19:07we'd already won one shoot out in the quarterfinal. And I mean you can be critical of as a striker of
19:14Gareth's penalty it was a bit weak it was too central can you remember how he was
19:19afterwards do you remember did you speak to him in the changing room? Yeah I mean everyone was just
19:23in console mode you know just to make sure he was all right and you had to face the Real
19:32reality of it I mean we'd been away for a month and it's a long month you're getting into the
19:38last few days of the tournament although we're all devastated and he was I mean he had to live
19:44with that still does now and I suppose it's out of his system now because he's won a penalty shoot
19:48out as a manager but you have to live with that for the rest of your life which is tough as
19:57you've got to go back to pre-season you've got to go back to playing so as I said I wouldn't
20:03I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy because it's such a really difficult situation to be in
20:07so there was no animosity there was no anger it was just we were proud because we'd given everyone
20:14something to shout of it was such a great tournament but it just wasn't to be. You mentioned
20:20that that Gaza moment in extra time you volleyed it across to him I just my read of that is sort
20:25of his football and IQ was so high he's tried to read the goalkeeper's parry and hesitated.
20:31Yeah there's just that I mean I've watched it a million times as you can imagine I'm thinking
20:34what the f*** have you stopped for you know it's like but yeah he just has that he just
20:40there's that split second which maybe made all the difference I suppose it was I don't know
20:47why he hesitated I don't know what the reason was perhaps he thought he could get to it and
20:52then stopped again and what have you I mean it was a it was a cross come shot for me it was one
20:57of those where if you if you hit it at the far post someone might get on the end of it but no
21:02one did. He said if it was the other way around him volleying it to you your instinct would have
21:05been to go the ball. Probably yeah I mean I don't know you'd never know that but I guess so yeah.
21:10Did you watch the final Czech Republic were 80-1? I did you know I mean I'm such a I suppose I'm
21:17putting my selfish head on here yeah I remember watching it and sat there like that because I
21:21think if there was one thing to come out of the tournament then at least I could walk away with
21:26a golden boot but I was also aware that if Jurgen Klinsmann had scored a hat-trick
21:33and there was every chance because you're playing the Czech Republic who weren't great I mean it's
21:37pretty much a given whoever won between us and Germany were going to go on and
21:41and win the tournament so I sat there with my hands over my face hoping and praying that Jurgen
21:46wouldn't score so I could at least take home the golden boot.
21:49442 is 30 years old this year our first ever cover was Terry Venables so we'll leave the last word
21:55to Terry he did multiple systems during Euro 96 he should be given credit for backing you
22:03coming into it on a barren run yeah and where does he rank in terms of managers he played?
22:07He was a genius everyone loved him everyone respected him he made training really difficult
22:15but really enjoyable that so much that you didn't really want to come off the training ground
22:20and yeah he was ahead of his time what Pep and what Jurgen are doing now he was doing in 96 and
22:26before that. Brilliant, thank you, thanks very much.