Seemingly at his peak aged 29, his finest glory yet to take place. Euro 96 saw Germany build around his precocious talents, which was no surprise given manager
Berti Vogts’ knowledge of being a top defender. After a lowkey group stage, it was in the knockouts that Sammer took the helm like a true Kaiser, steering his country towards the annals of history.
He was inspirational against Croatia in the quarter-finals at Wembley, proving the difference between a resolute Germany side and a tremendously gifted Croatian one. The game itself was physical, but Sammer rose above it all, demonstrating his ability at both ends of the pitch. Winning a penalty, which Klinsmann converted, and scoring the second as Die Mannschaft kept a clean sheet.
He then stood tall against an England outfit looking for revenge after Italia 90, helping Germany see off their rivals on penalties again, before Oliver Bierhoff stole the headlines in the final against the Czech Republic with two goals – the winner a golden goal in the 95th minute. At the heart of everything Germany did well that summer was their powerful, opinionated and supremely gifted sweeper, who was duly named player of the tournament.
It is rare for a defender to win individual awards today but was a little more common a couple of decades ago. Sammer had been crowned German Footballer of the Year in 1995 and 1996, but was now officially the best player at Euro 96, and added a Ballon d’Or later that year, beating off stiff competition from
Ronaldoand
Alan Shearer. It meant that he had emulated the great German player to win the award from the libero position, Franz Beckenbauer.
Unbeknownst to Sammer at the time, ’96 and ’97 would prove to be his final two years at the very top. The next campaign was memorable for Dortmund’s Champions League victory, one which Sammer was yet again integral to. While many remember the attacking exploits of
Stéphane Chapuisat, Andreas Möller and Karl-Heinz Riedle, it was Sammer, alongside the great Jürgen Kohler, who was most influential in their win, keeping the likes of
Zinedine Zidane,
Christian Vieri, Alen Bokšić and
Alessandro Del Piero at bay.