Fifty Cup Finals by Nick Collins

Author:Nick Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2018-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

England – The Sven Years

Part Two

QUALIFYING for EURO 2004 got off to a dramatic and disturbing start. The night before the game in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, a blood-spattered England fan staggered into the team hotel and collapsed in the foyer suffering from gunshot wounds. Happily he recovered after hospital treatment, but it was a stark reminder of the dangers that awaited those who fell foul of a particularly dangerous group of locals.

Bratislava was full of freelance ‘security’ men, who dressed completely in black, carried all kinds of weapons and often had a snarling dog on a short leash. In short they were like vigilantes and had come tooled up for trouble. Throw in a few thousand visiting fans and it was a toxic mix, even though the England supporters did their best to stay out of the way.

It was a bitterly cold wet night, even though it was only mid-October, and the pitch looked awful. Luckily the rain stopped for a couple of hours early in the evening, because at one stage we had been reporting the match might even be in some doubt – conditions were that bad. Slovakia might have been ranked 51st, 45 places below England, but in the first half you would never have guessed. They adapted better and had wasted several good chances before they took the lead – Middlesbrough’s Szilard Nemeth squeezing his shot under David Seaman.

As half-time approached there was some crowd trouble and it soon became apparent why it was happening. Every time England’s black players touched the ball they were booed, jeered and racially abused. Ashley Cole and Emile Heskey put up with a lot that night, and Emile appeared pretty shaken by it all when I spoke to him in the mixed zone afterwards.

The England supporters made very clear their thoughts on the Slovaks abusing our black players and that’s why there was a problem. The police and ‘security’ guards eventually sorted everything out, but the racism did carry on into the second half – and the Slovakian FA received a token fine further down the line and had to play a home match behind closed doors.

Gradually England stirred themselves in the second half and drew level just after the hour with a David Beckham free kick. The momentum was with the team and eight minutes from the end Paul Scholes, on his 50th England appearance, crossed for Michael Owen to head home the winner.

Three welcome points got qualifying off to a great start but England had to survive a mini-siege in the closing stages as Slovakia piled forward and put them under enormous late pressure.

Inevitably the racist abuse dominated the media agenda and that was still the case as England prepared for the second game of their double-header a few days later against Macedonia in Southampton.

What happened in Bratislava was deeply unpleasant. The whole trip took place against a backdrop of menace and intimidation, so no wonder most of us could not wait to get out of there.

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