“Beckham will have learned a lesson and
Hoddle too – suspensions can upset the best-
laid plans,” mused the Independent’s Ian
Ridley, with a frightening sense of foreboding.
We’ll forgive you a wistful sigh.
Still, Hoddle’s charges were on their way to
Tournoi glory after only two encounters; the
following evening, Italy and Brazil played out
a belting 3-3 draw – comedy own goals from
Aldair and Attilio Lombardo sandwiched an
Alessandro Del Piero brace, before the South
Americans secured a point thanks to their
glorious ‘Ro-Ro’ combination in the final 20
minutes. Ronaldo, days from becoming the
planet’s most expensive footballer with Inter,
jinked away to slot home a typically effortless
first, then superbly spotted strike partner
Romario in a chaotic penalty box. That clever
late equaliser made England the champions.
When Hoddle’s side faced the world’s top-
ranked team in their closing encounter then,
confidence was running high. In an attempt
to play down their star-studded opponents,
Hoddle himself had even scoffed before thegame that “sometimes people give Brazil too
much respect, as if they’re from another
planet”. England’s poor history against their
previous opponents hadn’t hurt them, which
was just as well, given their record against
Brazil was even worse, with only three wins
in 18 attempts dating back to 1956.
That soon became three in 19 thanks to an
expert 60th-minute toe-poke from Romario –
facing England for the first time in his career,
and only just returned to the Selecao squad
in February after a near three-year hiatus. It
ended the Three Lions’ six-match win streak,
but did little to knock them off their stride.
If England’s final game proved something
of a damp squib, however, France’s curtain-
drawing clash against Italy was anything
but. Even Gazzetta would have admired the
stonking goals from Zinedine Zidane and
Youri Djorkaeff that gave the hosts a 2-1
lead going into the dying embers. Better still
for the prickly pinksheet, though, Del Piero’s
89th-minute penalty – his second spot-kick
of the tournament – earned Maldini’s men
a point in Paris and himself the Golden Boot
ahead of Romario.
In reality, there’s no great legacy to the
Tournoi de France beyond Roberto Carlos and
his freakish mastery of a football. Ultimately,
England won and followed it up by topping
their France 98 qualifying group ahead of the
Azzurri, having ground out a famous goalless
draw against Zola, Cannavaro & Co in Rome’s
Stadio Olimpico that October.
But after bagging the undesirable Fair Play
Awards at both Italia 90 and Euro 96, the
Three Lions’ table-topping batch of yellow
cards in ’97 thrilled Hoddle, who responded
to questions with a smug retort. “I’ll tell you
how I’m going to answer that,” he stated.
“It’s nice not to win the Fair Play Award but
to win the tournament.”
With hindsight, the irony hurts – not least
considering a) Beckham’s seminal red card
as England lost to Argentina on penalties in
the last 16, and b) the fact Hoddle’s side still
shared the Fair Play prize yet again at France
98 anyway. It still rankles for Rob Lee.
“I must admit, I thought we had a good
enough squad to win that tournament – and
I think Glenn did as well,” he explains. “We
had some bloody good players. It was just
disappointing that we ran into Argentina so
early, really – we should have got a result
against Romania in Toulouse, which meant
we’d have met them a little bit later down
the line. Then there was the sending-off [for
Beckham] of course, as well as Sol Campbell’s
disallowed goal.
“What I eventually learned in football is
that sometimes, regardless of how good you
are, you need some luck. I don’t think things
ever do go England’s way, do they? There’s
always something that crops up. Hopefully
with the team we’ve got now, we’ll get that
bit of luck and win something.”
Twenty-five years ago, though, England did
win something. It might not have been big,
it might not have meant anything – but for
nine sunny days in June 1997, it sure was
bloody good fun.
Le Tournoi II: the petition starts here...Hoddle’s arrival, but rattled home the opener
inside 26 minutes after Scholes’ tremendous
lofted ball from deep. Two minutes before
the break, roles were reversed when Wright
squared for the pint-sized prodigy to lash in
a fine left-footed strike past Angelo Peruzzi.
Playing alongside club-mate Becks in central
midfield, Scholes ran the show.
Media lapped up the 2-0 victory, England’s
first against the Azzurri in 20 years and five
attempts. Six matches into Maldini’s reign,
Italy had finally conceded their first goals.
The Guardian’s David Lacey luxuriated over
“one of the most stylish performances seen
from an England side since Ron Greenwood’s
team went to Barcelona shortly before the
1980 European Championship and defeated
Spain”. La Gazzetta dello Sport took it... less
well. “England played for the result while
Italy played to entertain, then beat France
with robbery in the last minutes,” they hissed.
England’s 86th-minute winner against the
hosts in their second encounter was indeed
anything but pretty; Shearer’s 11th goal in
11 international matches came after Barthez
fumbled Teddy Sheringham’s harmless cross,
giving the Three Lions their first success on
French soil since 1949. It was Les Bleus’ first
home defeat full stop since their infamous
USA 94 qualifying loss to Bulgaria, and served
to highlight their struggles at the sharp end –
looking back, Aime Jacquet’s options read
like a puzzling Who’s Who, with emphasis on
the ‘who?’: between them, forwards Florian
Maurice, Nicolas Ouedec, Christophe Dugarry
and Loko had managed a meagre 10 goals
in 55 games combined. And people wonder
how Stephane Guivarc’h went on to become
a World Cup winner.
It was also Paul Gascoigne’s 50th cap, one
year out from his infamous omission from
Hoddle’s World Cup squad. “He was the best
I ever played with,” says Lee. “But I suppose
it was also around this time when plenty of
other very good players were coming into
the squad and he wasn’t our focal point any
more.” Gazza’s performance against France
was a sign of things to come – in a wasteful
display, he was lucky to escape a yellow card
for a poor challenge on Patrick Vieira’s shins.
Beckham wasn’t so lucky. After picking up
an injury courtesy of Vieira, the 22-year-old
hobbled a few yards to the sidelines to get
treatment, shrugging off the referee’s request
to board a stretcher for his ludicrously short
trip. The booking that followed ruled him out
of the final game against Brazil.
“THE TROPHY! WAS
ALAn EVEn SMILInG?
I REMEMBER SEEInG
IT On A PEnCIL CASE
MY SOn HAD OnCE”
To p Lee, Shearer
and Sheringham
celebrate a rare
victory in France
Above “Worst.
Trophy. Ever.”FourFourTwo July 2022 77L E
TOURnOI