Legendary rivals are on same side now

Apr 25 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

SIR Bobby Robson’s World Cup stars of 1990 are to play for him once again in a one-off match to raise funds for his cancer charity.

Members of the former England team are to face players from the German side who famously knocked them out at the semi-final stage on penalties.

A large number of the England team are expected to play in the match which will take place on Sunday July 26 at St James’s Park.

Sir Bobby said: “I’m thrilled at the prospect of reuniting my 1990 England squad in support of my charity.

“It will be a pleasure to see them together again, and hopefully this time we’ll get the result we want against Germany.

“We had a good group of players that year, very talented, very tough and ambitious. We got better as the tournament progressed, and the fact we lost on penalties and not in open play tells its story. In World Cup football that some teams, over a long spell, are happy to get knocked out and go home, but we weren’t like that. We were determined to stay in the competition as long as possible and had great will to win.

“Some players get homesick but we had great staying power in the team, and our ambition was to stay to the bitter end. We were so near, but so far.”