Next summer’s ‘home’ tournament looms large for a coach who needs no reminding that it could be the chance of a lifetime
There was plenty on Gareth Southgate’s mind as he departed Wembley on that tumultuous night in June 1996, after his missed penalty condemned
England to defeat in the European Championship semi-final against
Germany, but a little-known detail has stayed with him. “The most heartbreaking thing for me was for people like Stuart Pearce, he retired on the bus home,” Southgate says.
The England manager, who is preparing for Sunday’s Euro 2020 qualifying tie against Kosovo in Pristina, with his team already assured of their place in the finals, makes the point that Pearce, the famously resilient left-back, would “come back [out of international retirement] twice more”.