England Takes Out Germany
For 34 years, England had dreamed about this.
Alan Shearer scored off David Beckham’s cross in the 53rd minute, and England defeated Germany, 1-0, Saturday in the European Championship.
Not since the 1966 World Cup final, won by England, 4-2, in overtime at Wembley, had England defeated Germany in a championship tournament.
“People back home have waited so long--so have I--this is magnificent,” England Coach Kevin Keegan said.
England (1-1) put itself in position to advance to the quarterfinals of the quadrennial tournament, while Germany (0-1-1) is in danger of elimination.
Portugal (2-0) clinched a quarterfinal spot with a 1-0 win over Romania at Arnhem, Netherlands. In the final Group A games on Tuesday, England plays Romania and Germany plays Portugal.
“I’m sure one or two people are disappointed that I scored but I think we’ve shown them exactly what we can do,” said Shearer, angered by criticism that mounted during a seven-game scoreless streak.
“We think that people didn’t want us to win tonight, they had their stories already written, but I’m pleased to have scored and captained England against Germany,” he said. “Anyone who said we don’t know how much it means to people back home should just watch that performance again.”
The win sparked celebrations not only among the thousands of English fans in the stadium but by millions at home in England. Jubilant fans poured into the streets of London, motorists honked their horns and set off fireworks.
But there was violence outside the stadium and in central Charleroi. Police fired water cannons and detained about 150 people before the game as English and German fans hurled tables and chairs at one another.
English fans threw bottles at police as they left the stadium and smashed windows and a McDonald’s in the town. During the game, ticketless England supporters stormed through bars and cafes, and about 850 people were detained in Charleroi and Brussels this week, including 450 Saturday.
Jet hoses from tank-like vehicles doused the fans, who hurled tables, chairs and garbage across the square, even while the water cannon swept some fans off their feet into side streets.
Police spokeswoman Els Cleemput said one Englishman was arrested after attacking a policeman, and 20 were found carrying weapons, mainly knives.
English fans flown to Manchester, England, complained the Belgian police had used excessive force and made indiscriminate arrests.
But Home Affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said in London that “the Belgian authorities have our full support in being as tough as necessary on the English visitors who are behaving not like fans but like hooligans.”
The game ended Germany’s amazing domination of England in major championships. The Germans knocked the English out of the 1970 and 1990 World Cups and the 1996 European Championship, winning in either the quarterfinals or semifinals, including two victories on penalty kicks.
The Germans created plenty of chances but couldn’t get the ball past goalkeeper David Seaman in the England goal. England’s Michael Owen had a first-half header that German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn pushed onto the post.
“We could not force our way through in the second half,” said German sweeper Lothar Matthaeus, who plays for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in Major League Soccer. “England capitalized on its chance, that is the difference. Now we have to do our utmost to make as much as possible of our limited chances to go through.”
Germany was missing forward Oliver Bierhoff, who injured a calf muscle during practice this week.
England was missing a large number of fans who got stuck at London’s Heathrow Airport because of computer problems. Nine flights were canceled by Sabena, a Belgian airline, including charters to Belgium from Sheffield, London and Birmingham.
In the other game, Portugal got a goal in the sixth minute of injury time from Costinha, a substitute.
It was sweet revenge for the Portuguese, who lost in similar circumstances on a 90th-minute free kick by Dorinel Munteanu two years ago. That goal ensured Romania topped its Euro 2000 qualifying group, and Portugal had to scramble to qualify as top runner-up.