England manager Glenn Hoddle named a 22-man squad for the ‘Le Tournoi’ trip to France, where the Three Lions kicked-off their games in the competition against Italy on Wednesday 4 June 1997.
The first stop for Hoddle’s men was the Stade de Beaujoire in Nantes which hosted our opener with the Azzurri, a game which will be streamed live on the official England YouTube channel presented by BT from 7.45pm on Friday evening.
For England, the trip came 12 months before the World Cup was held in France the following year and with the qualifying campaign still in mid-flow, if offered Hoddle a chance to assess his options with a strong blend between experienced and young players in the group.
After a semi-final appearance at Euro ’96 under Terry Venables the previous summer, new boss Hoddle had introduced a number of new faces to the group as he aimed to evolve the team even further.
The likes of Spurs defender Sol Campbell, Sunderland’s Lee Clark and Manchester United quartet Gary and Phil Neville, David Beckham and Paul Scholes are all among a group of players to have caught Hoddle’s eye with their domestic performances.
And they were all hungry to make a big impression during the close-season trip, with Scholes among those looking for his first England goal having made his Three Lions debut two months earlier in May during a 2-1 win over South Africa on his home turf of Old Trafford.
After their first game with Italy, England would take on the host nation in Montpelier before playing their third and final game with Brazil at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Watch the full game with Italy, presented by BT, in the media player above.
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Tim Flowers (Blackburn Rovers), Nigel Martyn (Leeds United), David Seaman (Arsenal)
Defenders: Sol Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur), Martin Keown (Arsenal), Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn Rovers), Gary Neville (Manchester United), Phil Neville (Manchester United), Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest), John Scales (Liverpool), Gareth Southgate (Aston Villa)
Midfielders: David Batty (Newcastle United), David Beckham (Manchester United), Lee Clark (Sunderland), Paul Gascoigne (Glasgow Rangers), Paul Ince (Inter Milan), Robert Lee (Newcastle United), Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
Forwards: Andy Cole (Manchester United), Alan Shearer (Newcastle United), Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham Hotspur), Ian Wright (Arsenal)
