English ecstasy

Alan Shearer's goal was enough at Euro 2000

After 34 years of hurt against the Germans, the Three Lions came good at Euro 2000, with Alan Shearer's goal ensuring a 1-0 win.

Although it was a poor match between two sides who did not light up the competition, it was only the result which mattered to all those English fans who had waited so long.

Most of the comments after the game reflect how tense England fans were and how much such a classic encounter means to them.

It was also crucial to break the jinx over the Germans in major competition, as Kevin Keegan's side now try to build a winning sequence of their own against a side they had in their pockets up until 1970.

These were your comments after that memorable day at Charleroi less than four months ago.

I have a hangover from hell, but I am in heaven, not our greatest performance but who really gives a damn, we actually beat Germany.

  Paul Coleridge, US

Doesn't the fact that we maybe didn't deserve to win make victory over the Germans that bit sweeter? Whenever we've lost to them recently we should have won, so maybe this is the way forward...
Vicky, UK

Those who thought that England v Germany was a match only for the spectators of the two countries are dead wrong because the tension was all over the globe.
Ali, Pakistan

The pubs here in Barcelona were full of England fans all dressed up and with painted faces and Shearer's goal almost brought the house down. What a relief after so many unlucky disappointments against great German sides. Credit to the German fans who have taken defeat so graciously and let's hope English fans out there follow their example if we lose later on.
Dermot Quigley, Spain

England remain, at best, a mediocre team with everything to prove, having luckily scraped by as poor a team the Germans have fielded in many years. No doubt, the fickle English press and fans will remind us of this next time England lose a game. Congratulations to Keegan and his boys, but if, as the saying goes, "you are only as good as your last game", the future does not bode well.
Hugh, USA

Before England played West Germany in Mexico in the 1970 World Cup, Jackie Charlton was asked by an interviewer if England would win. He said there would be no problem - "we always beat the Germans". I kept being reminded of this comment, everytime we played the Germans over the next 30 years. The win was great, but lets not get carried away.
Jeremy Kingsley, Kuwait

It was an extremely important psychological victory for the English team - a little more self confidence and the team can go all the way.

  Sami, Finland

It's a joke - we've finally got rid of the long ball game in the Premiership only to see it reappear in our national game. England just do not look like scoring in open play - they never keep possession for long enough. If Germany had had one on form striker the result would have gone the other way.
Witz, England

You don't have to be Einstein to know Keegan and Co. won't win Euro 2000, but handing the Germans the defeat that almost certainly puts them out is a moment to be cherished not derided. Sometimes the result means more than the performance and don't rule us out just yet.
John Baldock, Australia

Although I'm a Belgian, I'm a true England supporter and I can honestly those were the 90 longest and most nerve-racking minutes I have ever experienced. But finally they did it - they beat the Germans.
Ellen Mackintosh, Belgium

To have beaten Germany should have been a thing of beauty, but despite the elation, I felt we played poorly. I have to admit after waiting so long I felt a little disappointed. We could not pass or keep the ball like the Germans and Campbell had far too much to do in order to stop them getting through. Not a memorable game for the performance, but more for the result.
Colin, England

A thrilling match indeed, nailbiting to the end - hail football !

  Vergis, India

I had to watch the game in Spanish, of which I only speak one word, "cerveza", so it seemed appropriate to celebrate with a few. Well done lads. In reality you simply are not good enough but I hope Lady Luck remains with us against Romania!
Rodney, Philippines

Any Englishman not savouring the utter joy induced by this result - however we may have played and however much chance we have of going on to win the tournament - quite clearly is not really much of a footie fan.
Simon Hope, Cambodia

I believe that losing against Portugal was possibly the best thing that could have happened. It has certainly made the England team focus on the tactics of survival. Not being able to retain possession is a major concern, we are a team who stands far more chance of scoring a goal on the break rather than attempting to penetrate an 11 man defence. I was on the edge of my seat all last night and the final result was worth it.
Graham Humphreys, England

The match, between the worst two teams in the tournament, clearly revealed many failings on the part of the England team - an inability to hold the ball, pass the ball and to create chances.
Phil, Switzerland

Great result. Campbell was superb; Seaman held most crosses, despite scuffing a punch; the Nevilles and Keown were excellent; Beckham was fantastic; Scholes and Ince were magic; Wise did well; Owen was a hazard to the Germans and was unlucky not to score twice; Shearer took his goal well, but his celebration was the most running he did the whole night.
Wippo, England

After his performance and crucial goal, do you think that Alan Shearer has forced Andy Cole and the tabloids to eat their words?
Janet Jones, England

Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming, England beating Germany? Well done lads, you've made my summer.
Matt Hewlett, England

I was in Turin when we lost on penalties, I was at Wembley when we lost on penalties. This time I was home alone and we won!
Kevin Garland, England

From all the English at the Crown and Anchor in Las Vegas sweating in 100+ degree heat, crammed in a tiny tent shouting and screaming (with Gordon Strachan) - well played boys! I'm too young to remember England ever beating Germany - what a day! Three men up front for the Romanian match, and pay them back for the World Cup defeat.
Staigy, USA/UK

Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming, England beating Germany?

  Matt Hewlett, England

I nearly exploded when Shearer put us 1-0 up. I wish England the best luck ever; I know we can go really far now.
Nendie, England

Yyyeeeeessss! Finally, after 34 years of waiting we did it! Let's see if we can beat Romania and really knock Germany out of the tournament! Come on lads, we know you can do us proud!!
Steve Ducker, Hull, UK

For once there's regained pride in our team. Those last few minutes, as Germany strove to equalise were some of the tensest moments of my life. However, our defence proved to be strong (and quite lucky!). Well done to Shearer, who has answered the critics, at least for one game. May he and all the team continue to perform well under the irrepressible spotlight that is Euro 2000.
Chris Goodhew, England

Come on lads, we know you can do us proud!!

  Steve Ducker, Hull, UK

Let's not get carried away. We beat a bad German side who still had more and better chances than we had.
Tony Croston, England

England stank - Germany were the more fluent team. England were lucky. If it had been another world class striker in front of goal instead of Jancker, England would have sank. Now we'll see how they cope against Romania while Italy lie in wait, ready to punish every mistake they make.
Scott, UK

You can't beat England v Germany for tension can you? Yet again I find myself with no fingernails left! I'm pleased for England but most of all I'm pleased for Kevin who got it tactically right. Bring on Romania!
Paul, New Zealand

About ruddy time!
Tony, England

You can't beat England v Germany for tension can you?

  Paul, New Zealand

Sorry, but it was very drab. Although I'm happy for Kevin and the lads, their mechanical and unskilled play proved how far both England and Germany have fallen behind in Europe.
Eric Armour, Brazil

Viva Inglaterra! Come on England, I'm sure you can do it.
Julian Flavell, Mexico

Let the Three Lions roar - a truly great result.
Matt Gildersleeve, Australia

It was the worst international match between two supposedly class sides I have seen for years. And now we have to go through it all again against Romania. Portugal have proved neither of these teams will do much more in the competition.
Nick Warne, England

About ruddy time!

  Tony, England

You think 'watching' on the web was hard - try watching when the power goes out 15 minutes from time! I had to rush across town to find electricity and a computer to log on and see if we held on for the win. And what a win it was. Did anyone else enjoy the red shirts as much as me?
Jeremy, USA

A victory that would have sent me running into the road screaming with elation, had my Parakeet not escaped at the 85th minute!
Dave D, England

Well done lads, worth getting up at 2.30 in the morning for that one! Scholes was brilliant! The team played well together.
Will, Philippines

The worst international match between two supposedly class sides I have seen for years

  Nick Warne, England

I cried with jubilation, and I never cry. Thanks for the tears lads.
Billy Wade, USA

What a feeling! I am so proud to be English. I watched the game with a couple of hundred other England fans in a pub in sunny California and thought, 'it can't get any better than this'! Keegan, you're the best!
Tony Hughes , USA

It's taken 34 years for Germany to produce a team of such bad quality, yet they still managed to create too many chances to win the game. This does not bode well for England's future in Euro 2000.
Barry Lyne, England

Substance over style. That was Keegan's strategy and it worked.
Sam, USA

What a feeling! I am so proud to be English

  Tony Hughes , USA

Well done lads, not the most attractive of games but the result should shut up the critics. Man of the match was Sol Campbell.
Ian, Australia

Not a great game, but a result that pleased me. In past they have played great football and still lost, but not today. They scrapped trough and with some luck, hope they go all the way..
Prasanta, India

The English are so miserable. The majority of messages on this page say "Yeah, but...". It's true that the team has deficiencies but instead of dwelling on negative aspects, we should be shouting about our world class strikeforce. With the support of the fans, perhaps football really could be coming home.
Ian, USA

What a relief. Keep the faith with Keegan. His passion will give England the edge that they need to win the championship.

  John Gibbon, Scotland

What an abysmal performance by England. Romania made the German defence look like a shambles whilst we only scraped one goal in and rarely threatened. Well done Shearer but we were extremely lucky at the back. This match only proves how the team cannot pass the ball and that Keegan should be removed as soon as possible.
Phil Wright, England

Campbell - inspiring, Scholes - truly magnificent, Shearer - dogged determination, and the Nevilles - much improved. A gritty victory, but plenty remains to be done - a good start though.
Alex, UK

Good on the lads, great performance. We're not the best, far from it, but we had heart and spirit and a little bit of luck ... so let's all get behind them for once! Germany were a little unlucky, Matthaus was outstanding, and really it could have gone either way - like all great games.
Andrew H, USA

Paul Scholes was simply superb. He was ably supported by Phillip Neville. Of course Beckham answered his abusers with his skill. Long live English Football.
V. Janakiraman, Nigeria

wooohooo

  James, England

I feel happy for England since it has been a long time since they last beat the Germans, however, the quality of football on show was really low. England really should not be playing with so many defensive midfielders. The supply to Shearer and Owen needs to be looked at - your two strikers are still not getting the killer passes.
K H Tan, Singapore

Not the best game between these to teams, but it was the best result. It was about time. Now lets go on and win Euro 2000
Steve, England

Great result, not a great performance, but surely a great boost for team morale.

  Phil Braithwaite, Belgium

We did it. I can't believe we did it. I have this fantastic warm glow that seems to make me smile a lot. Well done Kevin and the team. You've made the country very, very happy. Have faith and keep it up.
Mathhew Dando, England

How many of you "watched" the game on match-tracker on the Euro 2000 website? One line of text-per-minute including "84 - Germans encamped in England's half" ... Now I know what stress means. I don't care about the game - we won and that is all that matters. It's about time we were the ones to hang on for a slightly fortunate victory.
Peter Darbyshire, Canada

All hail Shearer! He proved the critics wrong with that goal and even if we don't make it through, just beating Germany is a great achievement. Well done the boys.
Laura, England

The win was, of course, what mattered, but let's not get carried away. Had Germany taken any one of several chances we would by now have been calling for Kevin Keegan's head. We certainly will not win the tournament, but to qualify, and hopefully to scratch our way to the semi-finals, would at least save his job. Predictably, though, the euphoria is sadly tempered by the yobs going on the rampage yet again. I think, on balance, I'll settle for being a citizen of the world and avoid all this dangerous nationalism.
Peter Smith, England

Thanks Kevin, you have made a nation proud

  Warren Hands, England

As a Leeds United fan I would always be the first to have doubts about David Beckham, but my god what a genius. This is one of the best days of my life and it really proves what a set of idiots those fans who chanted insults about Beckham are.
Karl Wilson, Yorkshire

Though this was a great result I suspect the ghosts of previous matches will always haunt us until we win on penalties against them.
Matthew Wegner, England.

I'm so pleased for England but even more so for Kevin Keegan. If ever there was a man who wanted England to win then this is him. Did you see the reaction of the players at the end of the match? It was fists high towards Kevin. You could see that the players wanted it for Keegan, now lets go and beat Romania. Thanks Kevin, you have made a nation proud
Warren Hands, England

What a game! Now that we've beaten our jinx, let's get on with the game and show the rest of the world why English football is the best.

  Paul Mills, Guatemala

Well done to England - it's about time. Fair play to Matthaus who proved to his doubters that at 39 you can still be a brilliant player. He was the best player on the German team. A word of caution - don't expect the Romania game to be an easy game or else you are going to have as difficult a game as the Germany match and even possibly a result you didn't expect.
Thomas, Dublin, Ireland

Words cannot do this match justice, oh how we roared with anger, frustration and hate, and how we laughed, and screamed and cried with joy - shear - excuse the pun - bliss!
Ele Machell, England

I wanted to rush onto the field at the end and hug every single player.

  Sara Tokley, England

Well it's about time. We deserved to win but I still think the midfield was lacking a bit of creativity. This was basically the reverse of all the other games: Germany were so close but we hung on and deserved the victory. We're not going to win Euro 2000 but I think a lot can be taken away from this tournament and used positively in the World Cup qualifiers.
John Birtles, USA

Wow - what a game! First time in 34 years where we've been cheering at the end of an England v. Germany match. I jumped up and ran around the garden in jubilation and joy. Although they didn't have as much possession and as many chances as the Portugal game, I think they defended like true lions. I think Alan Shearer definitely proved himself - again, and I think the other stars were Sol Campbell and Seaman, who was actually awake this game.
Thomas Yasin, United Kingdom

What a fantastic evening. I'm not old enough to remember the last time England beat Germany but I do know it was about time. It wasn't a great match but the fans were brilliant which lifted the team. Well done England, now we just have to beat Romania!
J File, England

It goes a little way to healing those heart-breaking penalty shoot-outs wounds

  Mark Hoddell, England

A very good performance by the lads, but I fear that, should we do the business against Romania, which I think we will, this team will certainly stumble against most of the teams who will be in the quarter-finals.
Ben Stride, England

We've still got a lot of work to do on the side, and even though Shearer scored an historic goal I still question his place in the team.
Stuart Fleming, England

Not a pretty game, but at last the press will stop going on about England v Germany. Well done lads ... and well done Seaman - my man of the match, and Wise, who appeared to be the only guy working out there at times.
Oliver, Italy

One of the best gutsy performances that I have ever seen.

  Craig Smethers, England

Christian, you embody the true football supporter, although, I admit I certainly wouldn't be "truly happy" if your side had emerged the victors. We ought to have belief in ourselves, but we should take the tournament one step at a time. Let's enjoy tonight but be thinking about our next game on Tuesday, against a class opposition. Romania may not have Hagi, but Ilie, Galcan, Popescu and company are a decent outfit. It's our spirit which will earn us results.
Adam, England

Well done England, it is about time the Germans had a taste of their own medicine. It goes a little way to healing the heart-breaking penalty shoot-outs wounds. Also well done to Steven Gerrard, he took to the match like a duck to water. Surely he'll be an England great in the coming years.
Mark Hoddell, England

Lets get behind our team now instead of slagging them off all the time - not a good performance but still a victory. Well done England
Nicki Vincent, England

Thank God is all I can say.

  Patrick, New Zealand

I have to say that this was one of the highest points in my armchair viewing career. The lads made all English, including anti-Beckham and anti-Shearer critics proud. Well done boys, lets go on and progress further and maybe ...... just maybe, win the competition.
Robbie Cook, England

What a result! Congratulations to Kevin and the guys, now we can go on to beat Romania, then Italy and then who knows ...
Mike Conabeer, England

From over here in Boston, I did not get to see the game but did get coverage on the web. I think the ghosts of past failures have been vanquished and now we can look forward to beating Romania next week.
Micky Dee, USA

Yes !

  Simon, England

England played well but were lucky Bierhoff was injured. It's hard to imagine him missing some of Janker's chances
Sam Markworthy, England

Not a good performance but about time we had a bit of luck. Hopefully this will be the start of things to come ...
Paul, UK

No pain no gain and that extra minute added on by the referee was definitely painful. Well Done England - all the way now.
John Lamb, England

The greatest match in my life time after so many years of waiting for this result. There should be a commemorative song and video - I know I would buy them.
Nick Duncan, England

Let me, a German, be among the first to congratulate you

  Christian von B, Germany

We didn't play as well as we did against Portugal but the true English fighting spirit pulled us through.
Jonathan Macmillan, England

What a brilliant team effort, carry this on and anything's possible by this dream team line up.
Phil Mathew, England

Let me, a German, be among the first to congratulate you. It was high time your lads won again. Truly happy for you!
Christian von B, Germany