Alan Shearer hadn’t scored for England in 21 months. It was summer 1996, he was in the prime of his career and on the verge of becoming the world’s most expensive footballer.
Yet as soon as he pulled on an England shirt, the goals stopped. There were calls for England manager Terry Venables to drop him, but he didn’t and Shearer repaid him big time.
Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo on the eve of Euro 2024 Shearer recalls thinking: “‘Wow’. For him to have that much belief in me, I felt like I couldn’t let him down. I owed Terry a lot.”
VIDEO: How England Plan To Win Euro 2024 – Tactical Preview
“In terms of importance, it’s right, right up there. It wasn’t one of the better goals. It was a good pass from Paul Ince, a good run and a decent finish.
“I was under big pressure from everybody, including my team-mates, the manager and the supporters, because of the number of forwards that were around then who were scoring goals on a regular basis. I just couldn’t score for England leading up to the tournament.”
Euro 96 paved the way for his £15 million pound move back home to Newcastle United, that summer. Clearly, the transfer speculation wasn’t a distraction during the tournament.
“I knew I had big decisions to make, but there was also a chance that I would stay at Blackburn. I knew I had some opportunities. We’d finished further down the league than I wanted, after winning the league the season before. But no, honestly, I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do.”
More Alan Shearer stories
How to watch Euro 2024 live streams from anywhere in the world
Euro 96, the complete history: England’s expectations, the dentist’s chair and El Tel’s troubles almost turn to triumph
