(13) Scotland-England
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The classic game with the classic goal and I must say, and this isn't always the case with 'cult' matches, a genuinely thrilling encounter well-deserving of its historical status. If the first half (hour) was stale, the second was quite epic. A two minute sequence where McAllister missed a penalty (77'), before Gascoigne scored (79') to make it two-nothing turned the tie, and probably the whole tournament, in England's favour.
For the referee too, Pierluigi Pairetto from Italy, there is a somewhat dramatic story too with regards this match, with it being for him a denouement of numerous factors. Perhaps most relevant is that he may well have missed Euro'96 altogether - at the aforementioned UEFA course at Seville in Februrary/1996, during one of the fitness rounds Pairetto pulled up in pain, fearing that he had torn ankle ligaments. As a consequence, he was replaced from the Champions League quarterfinal Panathinaikos-Legia Warsaw in Athens, but returned to refereeing in Serie A weeks later. This his third and final major tournament (his FIFA listing would expire in '97), the Italian ref was under pressure to adhere to the guidelines set by the UEFA referees committee: the previous summer, he was accused of having mismanaged the prestigious England-Brazil friendly, letting the game get out of hand with a number of wild fouls. Pairetto, a referee whose style erred more lenient than strict, was being assessed by the chairman of the referees committee.
Everything turned right in the end though: good performance by the Italian ref, who always kept the game under his grasp and did well. He was prepared to, quite correctly, award Scotland two decisions in the England penalty area during the second half - first, punishing a deliberate pass to the goalkeeper (clip), but most notably the penalty for a clear foul (clip), which was saved. Pairetto gave five yellow cards: the two first half bookings were key to keeping the game under control; of the three second half cards, one was cohering to UEFA guidelines, one was a bit harsh, the other close to a red. Despite a small handful of rather furious interventions by the referee, it seems the players always respected him. This game, surely the most prestigious of the whole Euro'96 group stage, wound up as a real triumph for the Italian crew, who were placed under a lot of scrutiny before the game but ultimately did a really sound job.
Everything turned right in the end though: good performance by the Italian ref, who always kept the game under his grasp and did well. He was prepared to, quite correctly, award Scotland two decisions in the England penalty area during the second half - first, punishing a deliberate pass to the goalkeeper (clip), but most notably the penalty for a clear foul (clip), which was saved. Pairetto gave five yellow cards: the two first half bookings were key to keeping the game under control; of the three second half cards, one was cohering to UEFA guidelines, one was a bit harsh, the other close to a red. Despite a small handful of rather furious interventions by the referee, it seems the players always respected him. This game, surely the most prestigious of the whole Euro'96 group stage, wound up as a real triumph for the Italian crew, who were placed under a lot of scrutiny before the game but ultimately did a really sound job.
Matchsheet
| Pierluigi Pairetto - 7 Donato Nicoletti - 7 Tullio Manfredini - 7 Marcello Nicchi (assessor: malka) | Scotland 0-2 England Sat 15June 3pm, London Group Stage |
Sco  Collins (29') - Tackle Spencer (38') - SPA (Holding) Henry (70') - Challenge | Eng Ince (68') - LoR (Handball) Shearer (75') - Challenge |
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