Once the real tournament started, luck played a bigger part than the so-called great players. That's how Cris Freddi saw it anyway
The main theme of Euro 2000, if there was one, changed from round to round. Early on we were talking about the northern European countries going home. The straight lines they played in, how static they were when they received the ball. Meanwhile, the sophisticated southerners controlled the ball in an instant and could play in any position.
It was political arrogance nd clumsiness, not hooliganism, that cost England the chance to stage the 2006 World Cup, says Alan Tomlinson
Brussels is an engaging mix of the old and the new. At one end of Boulevard Adolphe Max, itself littered with seedy sex shops and chambres privées, lies Place de la Bourse, one of the gathering points in the city, and a focus for the riot police when fans were getting out of hand. At the other end is a concrete wasteland of ugly buildings, among which lies the Sheraton, a shrine to the glamour and opulence of postwar reconstruction.
It's getting better all the time, but too many England fans till carry unnecessary baggage. Tom Davies saw mixed messages on display at Euro 2000
Anyone stumbling unawares into the neutral section behind one of the goals at the Czech Republic v France game in Bruges might have been forgiven for wondering who was playing. For there, amid the smattering of French blue and Czech red, were five Leyton Orient shirts. Admittedly I was wearing one of them, but this is no parochial club boast – there were also shirts and flags from Wycombe and Colchester and Cambridge and Burnley. Together, they represent English football’s forgotten travelling contingent – the dedicated neutrals – and they were out in force in the Low Countries.
Monday 1 Wimbledon’s owners heed the advice of their players and part company with Egil Olsen. Just in the nick of time?
Tuesday 2 West Ham face an FA enquiry after angry scenes at Highbury where Emmanuel Petit appears to handle the ball before scoring Arsenal’s injury-time winner. “I’m not one for chasing referees but everything he gave went their way,” says Harry, getting his breath back. John Fashanu wants the Wimbledon job: “I’ve decided to go for it. If you cut me open I would bleed Wimbledon through and through.” And Vinnie Jones follows suit: “Olsen was useless. Give me and Joe Kinnear the job and if we stay up, give us £200,00 each.” A club spokesman is unimpressed: “I wonder if Vinnie intends to donate the fee he got for slagging off the club to charity? Somehow I doubt it.” Jimmy Quinn is sacked by Swindon.
England played well, but the tournament as a whole was a disappointment, says Ken Gall
Euro 96 was, of course, the tournament of that song, and consequently provided a substantial contribution to the pension funds of Messrs Skinner and Baddiel. It also inspired, among other things, an execrable television drama starring the dreaded Neil Morrisey and a seemingly embalmed Des Lynam.