The countdown is on for this years European Championship, and to get you in the mood we are going back 28 years to relive Euro '96. In the final instalment of this four-part series, fittingly John B looks at the two sides who reached the Euro ‘96 Final at Wembley - Czech Republic and Germany. To help provide an insight, John spoke to Czech sports journalist Jiri Hosek and Co-Host of Yellow Wall Pod Matthias Suuck.
It was the Czech Republic’s first campaign since the separation of Czecho...
The countdown is on for this years European Championship, and to get you in the mood we are going back 28 years to relive Euro '96. In the final instalment of this four-part series, fittingly John B looks at the two sides who reached the Euro ‘96 Final at Wembley - Czech Republic and Germany. To help provide an insight, John spoke to Czech sports journalist Jiri Hosek and Co-Host of Yellow Wall Pod Matthias Suuck.
It was the Czech Republic’s first campaign since the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1993 and they won a tight qualification group ahead of Netherlands and Norway to reach the Finals. Their fighting spirit saw them recover from an opening match defeat to Germany to progress ahead of Italy and Russia, before Karel Poborsky’s improvised lob saw off Portugal in the last eight then a dramatic penalty shootout win over France saw them unexpectedly reach the Final. The Germans, meanwhile, were expected to bring the trophy back to their homeland and qualified with minimum fuss, dropping just five points from their ten qualifiers, and cruised to wins over the Czech’s and Russia in Group C before holding Italy to a goalless draw. A narrow win over Croatia in the Quarter Finals was followed by a penalty shootout win over the hosts England to face the Czech’s again in the Final, where Oliver Bierhoff came off the bench to score a double, including a golden goal winner, to secure victory for Berti Vogts’s side. Jiri and Matthias give a good insight into their respective journeys and also give a combined Euro 96 & 2024 XI for each nation, which throws some interesting selections.
Footnote - John is also doing this series as a build-up to the launch of his second book, We're Going To Wembley: Scotland's Euro '96 journey by Pitch Publishing, which he has co-written with Neil Doherty. Full details on where you can pre-order the book can be found on Pitch's website or by contacting John or Neil directly.
Intro Music - Glasgow to Berlin by PG Ciarletta
Outro Music - Whatever it Takes by Scott McGill
Intro Voiceover - Rory Hamilton
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