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21 WHEN England fans sang about "30 years of hurt" at Euro '96 they had high hopes of ending the pain with a first trophy since the 1966 World Cup but 20 years on from that agonising near miss there is precious little optimism in the air. To a buoyant chart-topping Three Lions soundtrack of "foot- ball's coming home" England came within the width of Paul Gascoigne's bootlace of securing a place in the Euro '96 final on home soil. The midfielder's extra-time, open-goal miss against Germany led to penalties, which England lost, just as they did in their only other semi-final appearance since 1966 at the 1990 World Cup. Since then England have been serially unsuccessful despite the virtually biennial routine of ex- citable build-up followed by dis- piriting exit. That see-saw frustration was summed up in the space of four days by England's two most re- cent friendlies in March. Having reached the Euro 2016 finals by winning all 10 qualifi- ers, scoring 31 goals and conced- ing three, England put the icing on the cake with an uplifting 3-2 away win over world champions Germany. However, with predictions of glory still filling the back pages, a f lat performance and 2-1 Wem- bley defeat by a Dutch team who did not even make the Euros brought everyone down to earth. Ironically, as England have gradually adopted a more conti- nental style of play, and can now keep the ball and build patient at- tacks with the best of them, their traditional strengths have been left behind. Since John Terry left the scene England have looked horribly vulnerable in the centre of de- fence and, having been bundled out of the 2014 World Cup group stage on the back of the most basic errors in that department, they were caught out in both friendlies in exactly the same way. Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 25 MAY 2016 FOOTBALL FORMULA 1 TENNIS Vulnerable England set to extend 50 years of hurt England manager Roy Hodgson speaks to his players as Jamie Vardy looks on during training Andy Murray holds his nerve to beat Radek Stepanek in dramatic five-setter ANDY Murray survived a nervy fifth-set decider against Czech veteran Radek Stepanek to com- plete a 3-6 3-6 6-0 6-3 7-5 come- back win and scrape into the French Open second round on Tuesday. The second seed had been tor- mented by his 37-year-old op- ponent in the previous evening's gloom, being outplayed in the opening two sets before repairing some of the damage by the time bad light intervened with him leading 4-2 in the fourth set. If he hoped things would be less complicated when the match resumed on Philippe Chatrier Court, he was sadly mistaken as a reinvigorated and inspired Stepanek came within two points of an unlikley upset. Feeding off the crowd, Stepanek conjured numerous moments of magic, out-foxing Murray with crafty drop-shots and slices and throwing in some classic serve and volley to keep his 29-year-old opponent off balance. But Murray has a few tricks up his sleeve too, not too mention his renowned fighting qualities and he never panicked, even when de- feat looked a distinct possibility. Stepanek, bidding to become the oldest man to win a match at Ro- land Garros since Jimmy Connors (38 years 280 days) in 1991, finally relented and Murray, not without a few more alarms, finished the two-day duel. There was plenty of respect from Murray, though, as he warmly consoled the 128th-ranked Czech and applauded him off court. "It is unbelievable what he is doing. He had a bad injury last year yet at 37 is still coming out and fighting like he is," Murray, who overturned two-set deficits nine times in his career and three times in Paris, said in an interview on court. "He has always been extremely difficult to play. He hardly missed any volleys -- until the one on match point and even that nearly got over -- hit a lot of drop shots and hit the ball very flat and that made it very hard for me. "I don't expect to be doing that at his age! I am just pleased to have got through." Murray won 10 of the last 12 games on Monday to seize the momentum and after fending off a couple of break points in yes- terday's first game he levelled the contest. But Stepanek, a former top-10 player, was in no mood to go away quietly and the fifth set was an en- grossing battle of wits. Twice Stepanek extricated him- self from trouble on serve to stay ahead as the crowd roared their approval. When he held to love to lead 5-4 he scented victory and the alarm bells were ringing in the Murray camp when he trailed 15-30 in the next game. Even when Murray got his nose in front and served for the match the nerves were still jangling as he double-faulted on his first match point. But he sealed victory when Stepanek netted an attempted drop-volley and, with a kind-look- ing draw, can now look forward to another deep run at a venue where he has reached the semis three times. "I had a bit of momentum yester- day. But I had to fight extremely hard today," Murray said, before walking off to prepare for French wildcard Mathias Bourge. Andy Murray Grosjean helmet pays tribute to Bianchi ROMAIN Grosjean will pay trib- ute to the late Jules Bianchi with a special helmet in Monaco. Grosjean's design features a fad- ed image of Bianchi, along with the number #17, and reference to his ninth-place finish at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix, which marked the first Formula 1 points for Marussia. Bianchi passed away last sum- mer as a result of injuries sus- tained in a crash at Suzuka in 2014. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt