whole game has to be the 5-1 germany game, but the best moment for me has to be beckhams free kick against greece, watched it in goodfellowship and after the celebrations had finished, looked around and the whole place had been turned over..
really enjoyed the 98 match against argentina too for just excitement and drama, despite the result in the end.. the sending off and the emergence of what appeared to be a special talent etc all happening made it a great watch...
The Germany and Holland games immediately spring to mind but for the Belgium game at Italia ' 90 for pure drama is up there. One of my other favourites was the nil nil in Rome to qualify for France '98. Real battling performance and the last sixty seconds were heart stopping. Ian Wright hit the post only for Italy to go up the other end and Vieri( the once city bound Vieri that is) missed that sitter of a header. Watched that in Turnpike. It was that rammed the manager let people buy cans from the offy on Cott Road and bring them into the pub. His bar staff couldn't keep up with the demand.
watched the free kick vs Greece in a bar in Lausanne, we (5 of us) were the only English lads in there and had done about 10 Grolsch, went completely bonkers and kissed some very pretty Swiss girls with tears running down my face. my best single England moment by a long chalk. the 5-1 was a great match watched in abject disbelief but the night was ruined by a shot of chilli vodka that gave me hiccups for 4hrs.
I used to frequent Main Event/Turnpike regularly when 17/18 and didn't have ID to get served in Haworth! I remember watching England V France in Main event in one of the Euros, the game where England led 1-0 with a Lampard goal and then threw it away at the death, conceded 2 goals. The big screen got pelted with pint glasses and must've had about 6 holes in it. Got a bit nasty.
That was devestating that game. We killed them for 89 minutes and then Zidane went and turned it on its head like a bastard.
I watched the qualification game against Holland for the '94 World Cup in the Royal Navy bar in Gibraltar. It was the away game where Koeman scored that free kick and we got beat 2-0 to miss out on qualification. The gaff was packed to the rafters with English Matlows, Booties and Squaddies and then in walked two Cloggies, I believe they were Royal Dutch Marines. That second goal went in and they literally had to run for their lives. Dozens of cans raining down on them as they desperately made for the door. Looking back it was out of order but made me chuckle at the time. I mean , what were they thinking?
The 5-1 win against Germany won't ever be beaten, unless England win the World Cup or the Euros, and that doesn't look likely any time soon
5-1 v Germany for me. Watched in a bar in Amsterdam and then went out and got wrecked with a load of Irish who had had come to Amsterdam to watch the Republic play Holland - even though the game was in Dublin?!?!? What a night. Was at Old Trafford for the Greece / Beckham game. Double header weekend, because City played Shrewsbury on the Friday night and Gary Alexander scored a last minute equaliser. Great weekend. I'd agree with the qualifier with Italy too. Watched in a pub in the East End of London. Was like some sort of Danny Dyer movie. The whole pub sang a deafening round of the National Anthem before during and after the game. Funny night it was, Arsenal fans hugging Spurs fans, Chelsea fans buying West Ham fans drinks and me and my mate 'aving a right old cockney knees up, guv'nor.
5-1 in Munich takes some beating. Even though we lost, i loved the whole 90 minutes plus stoppage time and penalties (yes if you can like a defeat) of the 1998 Argentina WC knock out match and the 1996 Germany semi final. England just played well and that's what counts. England in 2000 and the games against Portugal in 2004 and 2006 didn't play well at all and we won't go into the debacle in the last WC. England v Scotland in 96 was good but me mam wouldn't talk to anybody for ages afterwards. She got her ownback when they beat us at Wembley in 99.
The Gascoigne semi-final v West Germany in 1990, that game had raw emotion all the way through it, fantastic match.
My worst is against Sweeden I think. I was in France at the time, when our television button wouldn't stay in. The contraption was very good : Sweeping brush goes in, tissues to keep it in elaster plast to stick the tissues and a chair to lay the sweeping brush on. Luxury. (We won 4-0)
