The Nation's Favourite England Goal
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Steve Western
England fan
Michael Owen, v Argentina
World Cup, 30.06.98

I had bought a ticket outside the ground five minutes before the kick-off only to find to my dismay that my seat was in the middle of a heaving mass of fanatical Argentina fans behind the goal England were attacking in the first half. Thankfully, a young French steward allowed me to sit in a spare seat in a more neutral area behind the goal (on condition that we exchanged baseball caps – I will probably never know what the letters CFO stood for on the front of his official cap). With the game finely balanced at 1-1 early in the game, Michael Owen picked the ball up just inside the Argentina half and raced past several hapless Argentina defenders into their penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable shot across his body and into the far corner of the goal. I can still remember vividly going wild with excitement as Owen’s shot headed straight towards me behind the goal and almost burst the back of the net right in front of me. As I went into raptures, a couple of Argentinian fans standing behind me tapped me on the shoulder and acknowledged to me that it was one of the best goals they had ever seen. Unfortunately, as we all know, the goal was to no avail as we were eventually eliminated on penalties. Amid wild scenes of celebrating Argentinians those same two fans put a consoling arm round my shoulder and we all agreed that it was a shame any team had to be eliminated after such an enthralling game.

Alan Mullery
Former England captain
Bobby Charlton, v Mexico
World Cup, 16.07.66

He jinked one way, then the other, hit the ball and it was like a rocket. It rose only about three feet, no more, but it flew into the back of the net. It was a wonderful goal. For me that was Bobby Charlton, he could deliver a rocket with both feet. In those days the ball didn’t move around in the air like it does today, so to score from the distances he scored from was quite something.

Jamie Redknapp
Former England midfielder
John Barnes, v Brazil
Friendly, 10.06.84

It was poetry in motion. I remember watching it very late at night at home. I was a huge fan of John’s when I was a kid. I had pictures of him on my wall, and he was great to me when I first went to Liverpool and he’s still a friend today. I remember him picking it up on the left hand side and it was just such a graceful goal and one that really put him on the map. What I liked most of all, after he beat all those players, was the final roll of the studs over the ball to fool the keeper. He was a special footballer.

Matt Smith
Presenter of ITV's The Championship highlights programme
Paul Gascoigne v Scotland
1996 European Championship, 15.06.96

Ally McCoist won't thank me for saying this, but my favourite England goal has to be Paul Gascoigne's against Scotland at Euro 96. I remember the whole tournament vividly, the feeling of riding the crest of a wave. For once, all the hype surrounding Britpop, Three Lions, Wembley and so on, it all seemed to carry the country forward. Gazza's goal on the day was quite simply brilliant. The celebration was absolutely inspired, and to top it off, I got to recreate it with Paul himself for a filming project last summer. He played Gazza naturally, while I played the hapless Scots defender Colin Hendry, flat out on the grass!

Danny Poerio
England fan
David Beckham, v Greece
World Cup Qualifier, 06.10.01

I watched the game with hundreds of other troops in a giant tent in the desert while serving in the RAF. It made a dangerous, unpleasant place feel like heaven for a few glorious minutes, which I will never forget. I was in Oman at the time of the goal as part of a deployment. It was shortly after the September 11 attacks on New York. Everyone out there, along with everyone around the world, was pretty downhearted at the time, so for England to be on the verge of not qualifying for the World Cup was unthinkable. And then David Beckham stepped up for that free-kick in the 93rd minute and sealed it for us. The next few moments were very emotional and allowed us a temporary release from the conditions we were in.

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