S13E48 Euro '96 Throwback: Scotland and Croatia

The countdown is on for this years European Championship, and to get you in the mood we are going back 28 years to relive Euro '96. In the second of this four-part series, John B looks at the fortunes of Scotland and tournament debutants Croatia by speaking to Scottish Sun journalist Gordon Waddell and Croatian Journalist for 24 Sata newspaper Tomislav Gabelic. Scotland recovered from the failure to qualify for the USA '94 World Cup to reach their second consecutive Euros, where fate decreed they would face the Auld Enemy in their own backyard. Ironically, after a heartbreaking defeat at Wembley, Scotland fans cheered England goals as the hosts did their bit to help their neighbours, but the Scots fell agonisingly short of a Quarter Final berth. In their first ever international qualification campaign since becoming independent in 1992, Croatia stormed to the finals by winning a group containing World Cup runners-up Italy, even defeating the Italians in their own backyard. They made a good impression in the finals too, defeating reigning European Champions Denmark thanks to a moment of genius by Davor Suker en route to the Quarter Finals, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Germany. Gordon and Tomislav give a good insight into their respective journeys and also give a combined Euro 96 & 2024 XI for each nation, which throws some interesting selections. Footnote - John is also doing this series as a build-up to the launch of his second book, We're Going To Wembley: Scotland's Euro '96 journey by Pitch Publishing, which he has co-written with Neil Doherty. Full details on where you can pre-order the book can be found on Pitch's website or by contacting John or Neil directly. Intro Music - Glasgow to Berlin by PG Ciarletta Outro Music - Whatever it Takes by Scott McGill Intro Voiceover - Rory Hamilton Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @[email protected] - [email protected]