The world's oldest international fixture has never felt more alive. On Friday night in Euro 2020 Group D, England face Scotland at Wembley, the 115th edition of the 1872 rivalry.
Gareth Southgate's side have the luxury of a home edge and comfort from their first game win against Croatia. They have designs in place to win Euro 2020, while Scotland are more concerned about prolonging their stay in the first major final in 23 years. After a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic on Monday, the Scots will be on the verge of going out if they lose at what is arguably one place it will hurt more than any other.
It is a competition for the ages and both here and now, with a long-standing obsession driven by England's desire to maintain the status quo and Scotland seeking new validation, the sporting context reflecting political tensions within the United Kingdom.
Friday's encounter will go a long way in shaping the football destinies of these two sides this summer: neighbors on a collision course that basically proved to be the catalyst for international football as we know it.
The history
The English Football Association took a team for Partick in the first official international match on November 30, 1872. It ended 0–0, but this fixture would become an annual event, with Scotland winning nine of the first 13 meetings, including some heavy scores of 7–2, 6–1 and 5–1. .
In 1937, 149,415 people gathered at Hampden Park - then the largest attendance at a football stadium - for Scotland to win 3–1. In 1966, a year after England won their only World Cup, Scotland defeated England 3–2 at Wembley and crowned themselves "World Champions".
England's overall record of 48 wins, Scotland 41 wins and 25 draws were the most recent matches. England took a 2–1 lead in the play-offs 2–1 on aggregate to qualify for Euro 2000, and their last match was in June 2017, when Harry Kane drew 2–2 in a World Cup qualifier. Made stoppage-time equalizer for snatching. .
But it is Euro '96 that draws the strongest parallels with this summer, coming just 25 years after Scotland's last tournament in which they played England in the second game at Wembley.
Euro '96 and now background
Scotland's manager at Euro '96, Craig Brown, once described how he suspected BBC commentator John Motson was acting as a "spy" for his England counterpart Terry Venables after watching him during a training session. Brown revealed that he swapped out the team's set pieces, devising different plans with alternate takers, so any information passed back was "total nonsense." This was, perhaps, the original SpyGate, yet arguably also not the most ridiculous aspect of the build-up.
Singer and football fan Rod Stewart also trained with Scotland before the tournament. Stewart was also pictured having a drink at the Epping Bear Garden with England midfielder Paul Innes a few days before the start of the tournament, and shortly after the infamous "dentist's chair" drinking game in Hong Kong, which took place before a ball. The host was thrown into controversies.
There have been no such off-field distractions in preparation for Friday's match; In fact, the two countries have agreed to take a knee before kick-off on Friday to show solidarity in tackling racial inequality. Political common ground is not in ready supply, however, as the two countries have strained relations.
The Scottish National Party is pushing for a second referendum to leave the United Kingdom, having been defeated in 2014, largely on the grounds that circumstances changed after a majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU in 2016. but they were forced to leave because of consequences elsewhere.
Many Scots feel that their voices are not being heard, although some 3,500 members of the Tartan Army will do their best to change that on Friday evening.
How do the teams meet?
The quality gap between the Premier League and the Scottish Premiership is somewhat reflected in both teams, certainly in terms of strength at depth. Yet Scotland boast two excellent left-backs in Liverpool's Andy Robertson and Arsenal's Kieran Tierney - ironically, England played right-back, Kieran Trippier for their Group D opener - while Scott McTominay played his Provided proven lineage originating from the origin. in Manchester United.
Steve Clark's favorite 5-3-2 figure will make it difficult to break him, and this could be an issue for an England team that has the same pace as Holland's Frankie de Jong or Croatia's Luka Modric to set the pace. There is a shortage of midfielders. England nonetheless have the firepower Scotland can only dream of and Southgate will be hoping to convey their superior quality, especially given the result after winning their first game at the European Championship for the first time in their history. Can play without equal pressure to achieve.
Who Can Provide Another 'Paul Gascoigne' Moment?
The heat of 1996, as England remembers, turned into a span of 60 seconds. Terry Venables' England were leading 1-0 over Scotland when Gary McAllister saved a penalty in the 78th minute. England opened the ball up field and history was written when Darren Anderton made a pass for Paul Gascoigne. Gascoigne picked up the ball over defender Colin Hendry with his left foot, and passed goalkeeper Andy Gorham with his right foot.
It's an iconic moment that has resonated in Euro 2020 due to the clean symmetry it has with Euro 96, and a natural desperation to anoint the "new Gaza" this summer.
Manchester City's Phil Foden has faced high comparison with many of the game's greats early in his career and hardly does him any favors in this regard by dying his hair similar to the peroxide blonde Gascoigne wore during that tournament. did. He nearly hit the inside of the post with a curling left foot within six minutes of England's opening game against Croatia, but was ultimately denied a goal that would have taken the hyperbole around him to another level.
England claim the second-youngest squad in these finals – their average age of 25.2 is only beaten by Turkey at 24.9 per player – and the array of attacking options is clearly their greatest strength. But Raheem Sterling's winning strike against Croatia was the team's first goal in any Euro. Harry Kane won the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, but a true creative star in the Gascoigne mold has yet to emerge from the many promising candidates.
Foden remains the clear candidate given his breakthrough season at Manchester City, but Jack Grealish made his case during England's two practice games and was unfortunate not to play against Croatia. Grealish has Gascoigne-like personality strength on the ball and a swagger, offering an invention different from the more direct approach of Sterling or Jadon Sancho, the latter of whom was not even in the 23-man matchday squad versus Croatia.
Mason Mount's inclusion in three-man midfield alongside Declan Rice and kalvin Phillips may feel conservative given the clamor of the inclusion of Grealish, Foden and others, but the Chelsea star provides a discipline without the ball that Southgate values. It also provides the ability to transmit infection. Quickly to present a real threat in the final third. If there is a stellar performance off balance, the Chelsea midfielder will be difficult to oust.
This plethora of options is in stark contrast to Euro 96, when England relied on a 29-year-old man who was facing question marks after missing 15 months with a broken leg.
A day after England defeated Scotland, the Daily Mirror wrote, "Gaza is no longer fat, drunk." "He is, in fact, a football genius." An England vs Scotland match could have such an effect.