26 November 2023 , 12:51
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Terry Venables turned to Gareth Southgate in the darkest moment of his playing days and let him know just how well he had represented his country.
It is perhaps the penalty miss that sticks out in English history more than any other. In the summer of 1996 football came home and England were eyeing European Championship glory on home soil. Scotland, the Netherlands and Spain had all been seen off.
The old enemy Germany now stood between England and a final against the Czech Republic at Wembley. Alan Shearer's early goal was ruled out by Stefan Kuntz and 120 minutes couldn't separate the sides, leaving a penalty shootout to decide the contest.
England had been thwarted in the last four of the World Cup by the Germans six years earlier and history would repeat itself. With the scores level in the shootout, Southgate stepped up to take the first penalty of sudden death but saw his weak effort saved by Andreas Köpke.
It allowed Andreas Möller to hammer his penalty into the roof of the net before reeling away in celebration. Southgate cut a dejected and lonely figure before Venables got hold of him, issuing some consoling words during a dark moment as the country stood dejected.
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The ex-England boss revealed on the BBC documentary, When Football Came Home: "I just went and talked to him.. his face it just hit him. And it's unfair to get that sort of torment. I just said: 'C'mon it's okay. Everyone is fine, don't worry. We've done our best and you've been brilliant. C'mon, you need to keep your head up'."
Southgate would remain a fixture in the England set-up for years, even after Venable chose to walk away from the role. His man management was always seen as a strength throughout his career and the current England boss admits he took a lot from his previous mentor.
Terry Venables led England to the last four of the Euros on home soilHe has said on Venables: "As a player, you play for coaches who help you develop as a person and a player. He (Venables) challenged us tactically. With international players, you’re dealing with top players so they want to keep learning. He created an environment that was fun to be in. One of his sayings was 'this is not a rehearsal'.
"This wasn’t a rehearsal for us. You might only get one crack at a World Cup, so we wanted to give it as good a go as we could, and generate memories. You learn from all your coaches, from watching their teams play, watching them, from discussions.
"Any coach wants to keep finding new ways to help their players and teams. But you have to be your own person as well, marry things to your beliefs and values."