UK: EURO 96 CHAMPIONSHIPS: ENGLISH FANS CLASH WITH POLICE

(27 Jun 1996) English/Nat

Scores of dejected English fans have clashed with police in central London following their team's defeat by Germany in the semi-finals of the Euro '96 Championships.

The euphoria which had earlier swept the nation turned to bitter disappointment when England crashed out of the tournament after a tense penalty shoot-out.

Germany will now go on to meet the day's other winners, the Czech Republic, in Sunday's final at London's Wembley Stadium.

Dancing as if celebrating victory, crowds of England fans gathered in Trafalgar Square in the heart of London after having watched their team lose one of the most important soccer matches in decades.

But the scenes of high spirits quickly descended into angry confrontation with the police as officers wearing riot gear stood guard.

Tearing down security barriers, drunken hooligans ended the run of a highly successful incident-free tournament.

Pelted with bottles and taunted by the mob, lines of riot police rushed the crowd, anxious to contain the trouble.

Undaunted, the fans continued to yell abuse and in semi-organised fashion charged into the police.

Outnumbered and coming under a hail of missiles, officers struck out with batons in an attempt to keep the crowd back.

But the ugly scenes spilled into the surrounding streets as rioters set a car alight and overturned another.

A police car was also damaged in the melee.

Earlier in the evening English and German fans left Wembley Stadium following a nailbiting climax to the much-hyped clash between the old soccer rivals.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Nightmare."
"Robbed. Totally robbed. Unbelievable...just never runs for us...so unlucky."
VOX POP

SOUNDBITE: (German)
"I feel sorry for England. They had great fans and it was a great host country, but they had no luck."
VOX POP

SOUNDBITE: (German)
"I think we have more luck but we played efficiently and made the most of our chance. We had only one chance in the first half and we used it to score. The English also had luck and the extra time was very dramatic but in the end we had the most luck."
VOX POP

Germany, the two-time European champions, will be back at Wembley Stadium on Sunday for the final against their neighbours, the Czechs.

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