For 20 seconds, the nation held its breath as England's World Cup destiny hung in the balance.
Needing only to draw in the cauldron of Rome's Olympic stadium, the hourglass was down to the last grains of sand in added time as Ian Wright skipped past Italian goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, only for his finish to hit the post from a tight angle. Ten-man Italy broke upfield, and from Alessandro del Piero's cross, Christian Vieri headed agonisingly wide – and the Azzurri were condemned to a play-off against Russia.
While the rest of us dived behind the sofa, England keeper David Seaman stayed upright to watch Vieri's header sail close enough to his post to strip the paint, insisting: “Hand on heart, I always felt it was going wide.
“As a keeper, if the radar is working you can usually tell straight away if something's on target, and my natural reaction was not even to dive for it... although I didn't realise at the time just how close it was. If my heart was racing, it was more in shock that Wrighty had missed that chance at the other end.
“He had just broken Arsenal 's goalscoring record and he was flying, but all's well that ends well. That was such a high-pressure night because it was us or them – one of us qualifies for the finals in France, the other goes into a difficult play-off – and we handled it so well. We were so disciplined that I didn't have to make any saves to make out of the ordinary – it was like old times at Arsenal!”
England's Nations League date with Italy in Milan on Friday night may not have the same gravitas as a death-or-glory World Cup qualifier, but meetings between two great football cultures have never been tap-dancing where the full tarantella is an option. And that thunderous 0-0 draw in October 1997 had everything – except goals.
Paul Ince, the Three Lions captain, finished with his shirt bloodied like Terry Butcher and his head bandaged like Basil Fawlty after a moose's head had fallen from its wall mount after seven stitches to address Demetrio Albertini's stray elbow.
Manager Glenn Hoddle's pre-match kidology, pretending Gareth Southgate had man flu and David Beckham's fitness was likely to keep him out, scrambled opposite number Cesare Maldini's plans.
Paul Gascoigne, combining skill and steel, had one of his best games for England. And Sol Campbell, who was flawless, was on the receiving end of Angelo Di Livio's X-rated challenge at the expense of a red card.
But for Seaman, the tragedy of Hoddle's side – who went out on penalties against Argentina in the last 16 in France the following summer – is that they never fulfilled their potential.
He said: “It was a real shame that group didn't go on to achieve more because we had such a good squad. The current team is a really good England side, and we will have a real chance in Qatar, but 25 years ago it was one of the best I played in.
“It came down to penalties, as it did so often, at the World Cup finals, but that night in Rome was a fantastic performance under pressure and we were one of the best teams at the tournament in France."
