It was arguably the most impressive result that England’s men’s football team have ever produced on foreign soil.
No, we’re not talking about the epic 3-2 win over Mexico at the World Cup earlier this summer, although that was indeed a halcyon night and who knows, in years to come, it may become even more feted.
But back on September 1, 2001, England produced a scintilating 5-1 win in a World Cup qualifier against their old enemy, Germany. This month marks 25 years since that famous night in Munich. Emile Heskey was one of the many stars for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Three Lions and in conversation with the Gazette, he happily looked back on one of the greatest nights of his career.
“We’d lost our last game at the Old Wembley – to Germany – and going into this one I think they had only ever lost one qualifying game and had never even lost in the Olympic Stadium up until then,” Heskey says.
“It was just a great game to be honest with you. It’s a game that wherever I’ve been, all over the world, someone’s got a story about it. Although we were 1-0 down after about six or seven minutes!”
Indeed, England had the worst possible start that night as Carsten Jancker beat David Seaman to a ball inside the England area and prodded past him to open the scoring.
But that was as good as it got for the Germans. Michael Owen levelled matters shortly after before Steven Gerrard’s stupendous strike from distance put English noses in front just before the break. Owen then netted his second and England’s third after a Heskey knock-down before he secured his history-making hat-trick with a fine run and confident finish.The last word was Heskey’s, as he finished in style for the fifth before he brought out memorable DJ record-spinning and golf putting celebrations.
Even now, all these years later, he says people still have vivid recollections of that night and where they were.
“I was sat watching my son play in the under-21s against Chorley one time,” he says. “And a young lad turned around and said ‘thank you for the 5-1’
“I was looking at him thinking ‘how old were you when it happened?’ but he was telling me it’s a fond memory he has of him and his Grandad. Another one was when a guy who went with his dad to the pub to watch the game and after Germany went 1-0 up his dad left, so he never saw any of the comeback!
“There was another chap was best man at his brother’s wedding, so he had to choose which one he took in!
“So you get loads of people with so many stories about that game. Everyone knows exactly where they were when it was being played. So it’s a fantastic memory and it was certainly one of the biggest games that I ever played in.”
The current England side are still reeling, somewhat, off the back of their near-miss in the summer as Argentina became the latest team to break Three Lions’ hearts at a major tournament.
Boss Thomas Tuchel came in for plenty of criticism for his tactics in that semi-final defeat, which adds pressure to the current set of Nations League games as a relatively new-look squad attempts to move forward once more, with the Euros in 2028 – on home soil – coming into view.
“I know there’s this thing about we picked him (Tuchel) to win us the World Cup, but let’s be honest, did we?” Heskey reflects. “Were we fully equipped to win that tournament? I’m not sure. You need that bit of luck along the way.
“Listen, I think he’s a great manager, a great coach and that he’s given people freedom. And now, he’s got some players who, I wouldn’t say are coming into their prime but they are certainly getting better.”
Our conversation took place before the latest squad was announced and before the subsequent raft of drop-outs, with Cole Palmer one name Heskey was keen to mention after the Chelsea man earned a recall only to withdraw through injury.
Others out of this crop of games include Declan Rice and Marcus Rashford. Their absences naturally create a void which new names can potentially fill.
“Palmer is playing better now so Tuchel has actually got a real task in picking his team,” Heskey adds. “Some said he should have taken Palmer in the summer but he wasn’t in form and wasn’t picked. Now he’s coming back into his own, so now we can see if he can do it for England.
“He’s got great options to pick from, especially with the forwards. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s on fire at the minute, so will he play?
“It looks totally different when we play without Harry Kane up front. Some players are not going to drop in like Kane, they may prefer to stretch the defence. So then you get more space as a number 10.
“It’s going to be a really interesting one to see what he actually does, who he goes with in these games and what it looks like.”
* Emile Heskey is a director and advocate of the Football Safety App – the online tool, which can be downloaded for free onto any smartphone, that allows football fans to directly report any abuse. Reports are sent to a central hub of security professionals who liaise with stadium staff and also the police. You can download the FSA for free through the App Store or Google Play. You can also find out more by visiting the FSA website at footballsafetyapp.com.
