‘You get the tournament, we get the trophy!’: Germany’s biggest newspaper backs Boris Johnson’s plans to move Euro 2020 entirely to England to avoid ‘ghost games’ in Munich… but cheekily suggest they’ll be winning it like in 1996!
- Boris Johnson has offered UEFA the chance to host all of Euro 2020 in England
- Bild have backed the ambitious plan and praised UK’s vaccination programme
- Germany’s biggest newspaper also claimed that their team would lift the trophy
- Berti Vogts’ side broke English hearts of the way to winning Euro 96 in England
- The current plan for the delayed Euro 2020 is to play in 12 cities in 12 countries
German newspaper Bild have thrown their backing behind Boris Johnson’s plans to host all of Euro 2020 in England – but claim it will be their team who lift the trophy at Wembley again.
Germany beat England on penalties at the old national stadium in the semi-finals of Euro 96 – the last time the country hosted a major tournament – before going on to win the final against the Czech Republic.
And now Germany’s biggest daily newspaper have got behind plans for the entirety of Euro 2020 to move to England to avoid ‘ghost games’ in Munich.
Germany’s biggest newspaper, Bild, has backed plans for England to host all of Euro 2020, writing on Wednesday: ‘You get the tournament! We get the trophy!’
Germany lifted the Euro 96 trophy at Wembley after knocking out England in the semi-finals
UEFA’s current plan for the tournament, which has been delayed by 12 months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is to play across 12 cities in 12 countries.
But with fears over fans being allowed to attend matches and doubts over the viability of international travel with quarantine rules in place, this week Johnson offered to host every game.
Wembley is already due to host seven fixtures, including all of England’s group games, both semi-finals and the final in July.
But with the UK’s vaccine programme way ahead of the rest of Euro 2020’s host countries, Bild believe the Prime Minister’s plans make complete sense.
In Wednesday’s edition, they wrote: ‘In London there are already three preliminary round games, a round of 16, two semi-finals and a final – probably with fans!
‘Mister Johnson, how about this deal? You get the tournament We get the pot (trophy)! For us that would be no problem!’
Delayed Euro 2020 is still scheduled to take place across 12 cities in 12 countries this summer
Boris Johnson has offered to host every Euro 2020 game, with seven at Wembley already
Germany broke English hearts back in 1996 when, after a 1-1 draw following extra-time, current manager Gareth Southgate missed the decisive penalty in the shootout at Wembley.
Earlier this week, Johnson told The Sun that tournament could come to the UK this summer as the country surges ahead of the EU in the race to dish out vaccines.
‘We are hosting the Euros. We are hosting the semis and the final,’ he said.
‘If they want any other matches that they want hosted, we’re certainly on for that but at the moment that’s where we are with UEFA.’
Munich is set to host four games under the current plans, but Bild say Germany would ‘get over’ losing their hosting rights in order for fans to attend.
Current England boss Gareth Southgate missed the decisive penalty in the Euro 96 semi-final
Wembley is already due to stage seven matches, including both semi-finals and the final
Under current guidelines, 10,000 fans would be permitted to attend games at Wembley from May 17, although there are hopes that number could rise to over 30,000 in time for the start of Euro 2020 on June 11.
Bild continued: ‘The football fans in Europe have finally deserved another football festival.
‘Instead of ghost games in Germany and other countries, we would prefer a rousing tournament on the island.
‘Celebrating the title with fans in the stadium would also be a lot more fun for our team…’
It is believed UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is open to the idea of scrapping the current plan for Euro 2020 to instead host the tournament in one country.