article: Twenty years ago today, Craig Brown's side faced England at Wembley at Euro 96 and encountered the kind of cruel fate that leaves a lasting regret. Scotland were undone by misfortune and brilliance; two momentary interventions that extinguished their hopes. The performance overall was not bereft, which was in keeping with the tournament as a whole since Brown's team drew 0-0 with the Netherlands in the opening match and went on to defeat Switzerland 1-0. Even so, the game still stands out in the long history of encounters between the Auld Enemy, for its circumstances, its drama and, to an extent, its heartache. England needed to recover from a disappointing 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their opening game that exacerbated the criticism of the players. Manager Terry Venables had taken the squad to Hong Kong prior to the tournament, where some were pictured out drinking heavily. Damage caused to the plane on the journey home brought further condemnation, while also building a siege mentality amongst the players and Venables, who had already announced he would be standing down after Euro 96 and would be succeeded by Glenn Hoddle. Scotland were buoyed by holding the Dutch to a draw and although underdogs at Wembley, there was no sense of inferiority. Of the team that started the match, Colin Calderwood was at Tottenham, Colin Hendry had won the Premier League the year before with Blackburn (alongside England striker Alan Shearer), Gary McAllister was at Leeds and John Spencer was at Chelsea. The rest of the team was made up of players from Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers. For Scotland, naturally, the tie stirred memories of past excursions to Wembley and the fans mobilised en masse to London with a sense of living up to the zealous spirit of their predecessors. The occasion worked with and against Scotland, though, since the England players were fired up by the historical significance of the game as much as the need to establish their worth at Euro 96. Before kick-off, England full-back Stuart Pearce could barely look at the Scots as they shook hands. "You've got no friends when you play against a team like that," he later recalled. It was a measure of Scotland's first-half performance that England used the interval to change their line-up. The game was still tied at 0-0, which suited Brown's side because the longer the game remained in the balance, the more doubt would enter the minds of the England players. Venables was too wily to be outfoxed, though. Recognising that his side was not dominating possession enough to threaten, he brought on midfielder Jamie Redknapp at half-time. Eight minutes into the second half, Redknapp was involved in the move that resulted in Gary Neville crossing for Shearer to open the scoring with a header. Scotland were not subdued by the goal, and Gordon Durie's header forced David Seaman to desperately claw the ball away. Durie was involved in the next key moment, when he reached Stuart McCall's cross ahead of Tony Adams and was knocked over by the Arsenal defender's sliding challenge.
summary: It remains a game that Scotland cannot escape.