Today, 5th June is the anniversary of the international football match played in 1968, when Yugoslavia (as it was known then) beat England 1-0 in the Semi-Final of the European Championships in Florence, Italy. Alan Mullery of Tottenham Hotspur becoming the first England international player EVER to be sent off, after 428 matches. Some history also was made when the USSR loss their semi-final to Italy by the toss of a coin. Italy eventually won the tournament, beating Yugoslavia on home soil after a replay.
The losing goal came after 86 minutes: there were 49 free-kicks awarded in the 90 minutes; what ever England had to offer in terms of class was disrupted by the Slavian tactics. On the 8th June, England played the USSR in the Third Place "tie" in the Stadio Olimpico, winning 2-0, with goals from R. Charlton and Hurst.
England's next fixture was against Romania in Bucharest on November 6th 1968 , travelling a long way to draw 0-0. Five days later they met Bulgaria at Wembley and Hurst scored in a 1-1 draw. Bob McNab, Gordon West, Paul Reaney, and Francis Lee all made debuts that Autumn. Despite the wealth of talent England, under Alf Ramsey, had won fewer than half their games (4/9) during that period.
England's first game in 1969 was in January at Wembley, a friendly against Romania, drawing 1-1. 80,000 saw this. In this period before the 1970 World Cup England played 9 fixtures up to the end of 1969, winning 6, drawing 2, losing 1 (to Brazil away) Goals F20 A7.
England has another UEFA warm up friendly tomorrow evening with Romania at The Riverside.
And on this day in 1999, after receiving two cautions for two foul tackles, Paul Scholes (Man Utd) was sent off in the 51st minute of England's Euro 2000 qualifier against Sweden at Wembley. It was the first and only time an England player had been sent off in an international at the old Wembley Stadium. 18 English players have been sent off during June! Two England players, McGuire and James (after the game) were sent off against Denmark on October 14th 2020 in a European Nations League match. Beckham has been sent off twice and Rooney twice; Beckham and Gerrard were captains.
Ray Wilkins was sent off for two yellow cards on the 40' and 42' in a World Cup draw bore, 0-0 v Morocco on June 6th 1986.
More here:
http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamDiscip/PlyrDisc.html
No comments:
Post a Comment