The Umbro Cup was a Friendly matches international football competition that took place in England in June 1995. The trophy was sponsored by the sports equipment brand Umbro, the manufacturers of the England national team's kit.
Host nation England, Sweden, Japan and world champions Brazil participated in the tournament. Brazil were the eventual champions, after winning all three of their games.
The staging of the competition served as a rehearsal for England's hosting of UEFA Euro 1996 the following summer. Matches took place at Wembley Stadium, Elland Road, Goodison Park, Villa Park and the City Ground.
Background
England did not compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to coming third in Group 2 in the qualifying round. This led to
Graham Taylor resigning on 23 November 1993, six days after England's failure to qualify. England then appointed
Terry Venables as manager on 28 January 1994.
This, combined with the fact that England qualified automatically for UEFA Euro 1996 as hosts, meant that by mid-1995 the team had not played competitive football for more than 18 months. In preparation for Euro 1996 a rehearsal tournament was organised and sponsored by
Umbro.
Venables named a 23 man squad for the competition, but was missing some choices due to injuries. Two players, Paul Ince and Andy Cole withdrew later and were replaced by Jamie Redknapp and Warren Barton.[ Later in Venables 2014 book it was said that Ince was "frozen out" of the squad.]
Tournament
In the opening round of matches, England beat Japan,
Brazil comfortably beat Japan in their second game.
In the final match of the tournament, Brazil beat England.
Venues
Results
All times listed are British Summer Time ()
England vs Japan
The first match of the tournament took place at Wembley and pitted England against Japan. Due to several injuries, four players made their England debuts, leading to a line-up which Veneables described as "a little disjointed".
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Brazil vs Sweden
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| Bengt Andersson |
| Pontus Kåmark |
| Teddy Lučić |
| Joachim Björklund |
| Roger Ljung |
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| Niclas Alexandersson |
| Håkan Mild |
| Magnus Erlingmark |
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| Substitutions: |
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| Manager: |
| Tommy Svensson |
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Japan vs Brazil
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England vs Sweden
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Sweden vs Japan
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England vs Brazil
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| Zetti |
| Jorginho |
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| Márcio Santos |
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| Dunga (c) |
| César Sampaio |
| Zinho |
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| Substitutions: |
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| Manager: |
| Mário Zagallo |
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Standings
Goalscorers
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
External links
Books
