Umbro Cup

Background

England did not compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to coming third in Group 2 in the qualifying round. This led to Graham Taylor resigning on 23 November 1993, six days after England's failure to qualify. England then appointed Terry Venables as manager on 28 January 1994. This, combined with the fact that England qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 1996 as hosts, meant that by mid-1995 the team had not played competitive football for more than 18 months. In preparation for Euro 1996 a rehearsal tournament was organised and sponsored by Umbro.

Venables named a 23 man squad for the competition, but was missing some choices due to injuries. Two players, Paul Ince and Andy Cole withdrew later and were replaced by Jamie Redknapp and Warren Barton.

Tournament

In the opening round of matches, England beat Japan, and Brazil beat Sweden.

Brazil comfortably beat Japan in their second game. On 8 June, Sweden were leading 3–1 against England but their opponents scored twice in the last two minutes to snatch a draw.

In the final match of the tournament, Brazil beat England.

Venues

Results

All times listed are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

England vs Japan

The first match of the tournament took place at Wembley and pitted England against Japan. Due to several injuries, four players made their England debuts, leading to a line-up which Veneables described as "a little disjointed". Darren Anderton gave England the lead shortly after the half-time interval but Masami Ihara equalised for Japan. England's captain, David Platt, was fouled late in the game but the referee opted not to award a penalty kick. With only two minutes of the game remaining, Japan's captain, Tetsuji Hashiratani, used his hand to stop the ball going into the goal. He was sent off and a penalty awarded, which Platt scored to give England a 2–1 victory.

Platt

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Brazil vs Sweden

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Japan vs Brazil

Zinho

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England vs Sweden

Platt Anderton K. Andersson

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Sweden vs Japan

Kurosaki

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England vs Brazil

Ronaldo Edmundo

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Standings

Goalscorers

3 goals

• SWE Kennet Andersson

2 goals

• BRA Edmundo
• BRA Zinho
• ENG Darren Anderton
• ENG David Platt
• SWE Håkan Mild 1 goal
• BRA Juninho Paulista
• BRA Roberto Carlos
• BRA Ronaldo
• ENG Graeme Le Saux
• ENG Teddy Sheringham
• JPN Hisashi Kurosaki
• JPN Masami Ihara
• JPN Toshiya Fujita

References

Books

References

1. {{harvnb. Venables. 2014
2. "England in Minor Tournaments - Umbro Cup".
3. (30 May 1995). "Unanswered queries are a concern for Venables". [[Birmingham Post]].
4. Churchill, Barry. (4 June 1995). "Super skipper saves blushes for Venables". [[Sunday Mercury]].
5. Later in Venables 2014 book it was said that Ince was "frozen out" of the squad.{{harvnb. Venables. 2014
6. Malam, Colin. (4 June 1995). "Reliable Platt on spot to save face for England". [[The Sunday Telegraph]].
7. Weaver, Paul. (4 June 1995). "A stuttering embarrassment". [[The Sunday Telegraph]].
8. Lacey, David. (5 June 1995). "Brazil fine-tune for Wembley show". [[The Guardian]].
9. Lacey, David. (5 June 1995). "England slog is no surprise". [[The Guardian]].
10. Lacey, David. (7 June 1995). "Brazilians exhibit their finest arts". [[The Guardian.
11. Winter, Henry. (7 June 1995). "Zinho leads Brazilian masterclass in artistry". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
12. Moore, Glenn. (9 June 1995). "England's great escape finalised by Anderton". [[The Independent]].
13. Winter, Henry. (9 June 1995). "Anderton's late strike rescues England". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
14. Lacey, David. (12 June 1995). "Brazilian masters prove class apart". [[The Guardian]].
15. Moore, Glenn. (12 June 1995). "England's limitations exposed". [[The Independent]].
16. Winter, Henry. (12 June 1995). "Brazilian panache gives Venables food for thought". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
17. Hughes, Rob. (14 June 1995). "The new boys from Brazil". [[The New York Times]].