Popular Nostalgia

In 2001, England beat Germany 5-1 at football in a real fairytale of a game. This match was another in the classic series of big games between the two European footballing giants.

England had been second-best for over a decade in most encounters between these two teams, so when we had to go to Germany to play them in a World Cup qualifier in 2001 (following both teams failing to make the knockout stages of Euro 2000) there was something of a score to settle: Germany had knocked England out of the 1990 world cup on penalties, and did the same in Euro ‘96.

Those defeats were, and still are, quite painful. That day, things could not have started much worse for England, as Germany took the lead after just 6 minutes, but things soon took a turn for the better…

Michael Owen blasted a hat-trick, and England eventually won 5-1. Steven Gerrard also had a great game, though none of the England players could really be singled out, for once they all played up to their full ability. Even Nick Barmby played well.

Strangely enough, I actually watched the match in a rugby club, and managed to miss four of the goals. Each time I went to the toilet, or went to the bar, another huge cheer would ring out – for the fourth goal, as I left the room, I knew England would score again, and they did.

Watch the goalson the video.

This was another of those special times when England managed to achieve something great in sport, and the whole country was visibly lifted, more cheerful, and things looked bright again.