20 June 2000, Stade du Pays de Charleroi. Romania 3–2 England.
By Hamish McTavish
A Tuesday night in Charleroi, a ground that had already had the Germany game, and a side that needed a point to stay in the European Championship. David Seaman pulled out in the minutes before kick-off. Nigel Martyn, who had expected a seat, got the shirt. Alan Shearer had already said this tournament was his last. Kevin Keegan had already said, in the spring and in the week, the sort of things a man says when he believes his team can win the thing. The Northern Echo, in the morning, would not need a pun. It’s all over now for England. The night only needed a tackle Phil Neville did not have to make.
A draw would have done. That is the certainty they carried out of the Germany win, the one Shearer had headed, the one that ended the jinx and made the papers talk about Italy in the quarter-finals as if the last group night were weather. Craig Brown, who had watched them, said the biggest mistake would be to believe they were through. They were not there yet. England had thrown a two-goal lead at Portugal on the first night. They had beaten Germany. Romania, who had lost a late one to Portugal themselves, were the point that would do. Keegan’s belief that they could win the Championships was still in the room. A draw would have done. It is the most English sentence there is, and it died in the eighty-ninth minute.
Charleroi is a small bowl for a last-night job. The English end had been the story of the week as much as the football. UEFA had already had the conversation about the travelling support. Germany had been won here on Saturday. Portugal had already taken the first night off them in Eindhoven, two-nil up and then three-two down, Figo and Nuno Gomes doing the thing England do to themselves. A point on Tuesday was the whole remaining plan. The football still had to be played. Seaman stayed in the room. Martyn went out. The arithmetic was simple enough for a child and somehow still beyond the shirt.
They kicked off anyway.
Romania were quicker to the first idea. Cristian Chivu, from the left, put them in front just after twenty minutes, a young full-back arriving where England had not packed. England, who had spent the Portugal night giving leads away, now had to take one back. Paul Ince was brought down on the edge of the act of shooting. Shearer put the penalty to Bogdan Stelea’s right. One-one. Then, in the time added on at the end of the first half, Paul Scholes knocked one over the top, Michael Owen went round Stelea, and the thing was walked in at the far post. Two-one at the interval, and the point already in the bag if you are the sort of side that can keep a bag shut.
They could not. Three minutes into the second half Martyn came for a cross that did not belong to him. The clearance sat up for Dorinel Munteanu, who chested it and hit it back past the man who had just invented the chance. Two-two, and the night turned into the thing England do with a point they only have to keep. They hesitated. Adrian Ilie half-volleyed at Martyn when he should have scored. Keegan took Owen off, hobbling, and sent Emile Heskey on rather than another body in midfield. Shearer was booked for a dive. Then, with the minutes almost gone, Viorel Moldovan went down the right, Phil Neville lunged at a ball that was already dying on the byline, and Urs Meier — yes, that Urs Meier, four years early — pointed at the spot. Ionel Ganea, on as a substitute, sent Martyn the wrong way. Three-two. Beckham still had a free-kick. Shearer still had a run at it. Stelea caught it. That was the last thing Shearer did in an England shirt.
The Echo had it right, and did not need London to help. It’s all over now. Ince’s last cap as well. Keegan’s belief, the one the paper said had been shattered, lasted as long as a tackle on the dead-ball line. They had plucked a defeat out of a draw, which is the Portugal night in a smaller room. A draw would have done. They said it before. They said it at two-one. They said it at two-two. Then Neville arrived.
Martyn had the late call and the cross he should have left. Shearer had the penalty, the booking, the last header that did not arrive, and the walk. Owen had the finish that made the interval look like qualification. Chivu had the first. Munteanu had the gift. Ganea had the one that will follow Phil Neville into rooms he has already left. Keegan had the extra striker when a point was the job. Beckham had the last free-kick. Meier had the whistle. Brown had told them not to think it was all over. They thought it.
They said we can win this Championship. They said a draw would have done. They said Italy in the quarters. They said it’s all over now. If you still think it was only the tackle, a funeral is only a Tuesday. The tackle was a minute from the end. The lead had already been given away twice in a week. The point was the job. They did not do the job.
The film is up. The goals are still there: Chivu, Shearer, Owen, the clearance, Ganea. Do not review it. Watch the point die on the byline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR6uwtAvNMg
Related reading
- Be proud — Wembley 1999, the Keegan scrape that got them to this championship
- Reffing disgrace — Lisbon 2004, another Euro night that ended on a Swiss whistle
If the nights sit right, the shirts and the wall are at /shop.
FAQ
What was the score when Romania beat England at Euro 2000?
Romania 3–2 England, on 20 June 2000 in Charleroi. Chivu, Munteanu and Ganea (penalty) scored; Shearer and Owen replied.
Why “A draw would have done”?
England needed a point to go through after beating Germany. They led 2–1, drew level, then lost to Ganea’s late spot-kick after Phil Neville’s foul.
Was this Shearer’s last England game?
Yes. His last act in an England shirt was the late free-kick Stelea caught; he had already said the tournament was his last.