“Are you sure about that?”
– Terry Venables to Stuart Pearce
We are often told that the best way to overcome our fears is to face them dead before taking a deep breath and dealing with them.
For many of us, it’s grabbing the spider in the bathroom or crossing the bridge you’ve avoided for weeks – for Stuart Pearce it was something else.
Stuart Pearce makes his penalty against Spain / Stu Forster / Getty Images
Back in 1990, England was just a penalty shootout from just reaching its second ever World Cup final. The Three Lions had matched West Germany step by step with both sides converting their three respective spot kicks, as Pearce certainly stepped up to take the fourth.
The 20 seconds that followed will be etched into England fans for eternity.
Nottingham Forest left-back did what any defender – or any normal person for that matter – would do in such a pressure cooker situation and put his head down before blasting the ball with no intention of even trying to pick a spot.
The ball cannonballed from behind the German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner and left Pearce with the incomprehensible task of stepping back against his teammates with his head buried further into the grass than it had been during his run-up.
Pearce looked set to never show up at a major international tournament again / Ben Radford / Getty Images
Chris Waddle would continue to hammer the final nail in Bobby Robson’s side coffin with England’s next penalty, but Pearce was the fall guy. Waddle at least had the luxury of doing his trade in a foreign league with Marseille the following season, while Pearce was forced to endure the wrath of the English crowd week in and week out with Forest.
Of course as time went on the amount of abuse began to wane, but no matter what Pearce would continue to achieve in his career, he would forever be remembered for the miss that cost England the World Cup (in England’s fans at least).
By the mid-90s, Graeme Le Saux’s fine form with Blackburn had seen him edge ahead of Pearce on the bill of being England’s first – left back and the veteran’s international career seemed to end, forever being known as the guy who missed the penalty.
However, an injury to Le Saux before Euro 96 Pearce offered his shot at redemption with the national side.
This was his big chance.
Stuart Pearce got his shot on redemption against Spain / Stu Forster / Getty Images
The Forest man started all three of Terry Venables’ side group games, despite – despite their famous 4-1 drumming of the Netherlands in their final Group A outing – their campaign was about to end with a whimper as they battled Spain in the first knockout round .
Javier Clemente’s men dominated for large periods of the quarter-finals, but still England somehow managed to scrape their way through 120 minutes with the score locked at 0-0 – the dreaded penalty threatened.
Real Madrid’s Fernando Hierro crashed Spain’s opener against the crossbar, giving the Three Lions an early lead. With both sides taking two penalties, each England led 2-1, but still the mood at Wembley changed without even a ball being kicked.
When Guillermo Amor went back to halfway after converting Spain’s first successful spot-kick, Stuart Pearce came out of the crowd of players gathered in the center circle.
Stuart Pearce bags his penalty against Spain / Ben Radford / Getty Images
Despite trying to push out his chest, Pearce approached with all the enthusiasm of a man who asked to move forward in a police line-up – it was time to face his fears.
There was a collective sludge from not only those present but across the country. Venables obviously did not fall in love with Pearce’s insistence on taking a spot-kick, even if he was not to be denied his shot at redemption.
Six years of wounds, six years of pain, six years of wondering what could have been and everything could be banished with a kick of a football … the nightmare was finally over.
Was it a safe punishment? No. Was it a good punishment? No. Do any of these things matter? Absolutely not.
Pearce launched his left foot against the ball, wrapped his ankle around it and fired it into the bottom corner with Spain goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta’s left hand just inches from offering his side the chance to restore parity.
Stuart Pearce consoles teammate Gareth Southgate / Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images
After taking a moment to strengthen himself, Pearce squarely turned to the audience and unleashed one of the most iconic celebrations in football history. There was no planned party, there was no peace, it was simply the release of years of frustration and unhindered relief when he clenched his fist and thundered at the audience.
England won the shootout before being knocked out on penalties by Germany the following round. This time it would be Gareth Southgate who would carry the burden, but make no mistake about which player was the first to comfort the outraged Aston Villa midfielder.
For some, Pearce’s penalty against Spain may just be a professional footballer doing what any professional footballer should be able to do from 12 yards, but there really is so much more. The character required to face your demons with hopes of a nation on your shoulders is truly enormous and Pearce deserved every second of admiration and applause that came his way.
