Have you already heard that buzzing sound? This song, which was the absolute hit in the summer 35 years ago, far beyond the island? This “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, football is coming home” is booming again. The Lightning Seeds Three Lions anthem, written for the 1996 European Football Championship in England. Incidentally, the tournament in which, after Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal in the 2-1 final against the Czech Republic, a German team was allowed to raise the European Championship pot for the last time.
Then, as now, it was also about the sung-about pain of the island footballers that something was won by them for the last time in 1966. The World Cup trophy, then also known as the Jules Rimet Cup, has long since ceased to shine. And the 30 years of pain have meanwhile become 55 for the English. But that could finally change at this tournament, now that great football is returning to the motherland of football.
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England only wants to pack suitcases once
Yes, you read that right. Come back! From an English point of view at least. Of course, the XVI. European Championship not only in England, but all over the continent – and a bit more, just think of Baku as the venue. But for the team of Coach Gareth Southgate it is practically a home tournament.
Ideally, England can play six of the maximum seven games in their national shrine, Wembley. First the three preliminary round kicks, then as group winners the round of 16. And in the semifinals and in the final you are only a guest in London. It would only mean packing bags once for Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling & Co. Well, if that’s not something like home office …
In general: seldom has a tournament been as British as this one. Most of the kicks of this EM will be in the English capital. In addition to three group and two round of 16 matches, two semi-finals and the final will take place at Wembley Stadium. With England, group opponents Scotland and Wales, all three teams from Great Britain qualified. A novelty at the EM.
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Gareth Southgate fights England’s penalty curse
The prospects that after the Jules Rimet with the Henri Delaunay Cup you can finally hold something shiny in your hands are not that bad either. And not just because of the fact that the English selection has been rehearsing penalty shootouts for nine months. Because already at the 2018 World Cup in Russia it was finally over that you could mock the island footballers with a repackaged Metallica anthem (Nothing Elfmeters). In the round of 16, the kick against Colombia was decided from point on, after having failed from point six of seven times in major tournaments in a duel. Including 1990 at the World Cup in Italy and twice at the European Championships at home in Germany. By the way, the only bad shot back then was on the sixth attempt – the previous five were all in – a certain Gareth Southgate …
–After the curse was finally banned, the fourth place in the 2019 World Cup put it up again in the game for third place in the Nations League against Switzerland.
As recently as 2015, everything had sparked a changing of the guard because not a single English club had survived the last 16 of the Champions League. Since then there have been two triumphs by Liverpool and Chelsea and three other finals (Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City). The junior selection teams also cleared a lot. In 2017 the U20 and U17 became world champions, the U19 secured Europe’s crown. Southgate now has a large number of these vintages under its wing. There are bright prospects that football will not only return home this time, but also bring something to the British.
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