England’s 5-1 triumph over Germany was thanks to Page3 oompah girls
We sent a band of busty beauties playing music aboard an open-topped bus to wake up the Germans at their tranquil country retreat
England’s historic 5-1 soccer triumph over Germany was clinched by a Sun Page Three Girl oompah band, a German soccer star revealed for the first time yesterday.
The Three Lions were put up in a hotel next to a noisy bierkeller before the crunch clash between the two nations in a World Cup qualifier in Munich in September 2001.
So The Sun hit back by sending a band of busty beauties playing oompah music aboard an open-topped bus to wake up the Germans at their tranquil country retreat.
And former German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann confirmed yesterday that the rude awakening led directly to our famous victory.
Retired Arsenal star Jens, 48, told talkSPORT: “I remember in 2001 we were in a hotel when at five in the morning, The Sun, the English newspaper, sent an orchestra - a band, you know - with some pretty girls on it.
“At five o’clock in the morning they came into our hotel area and woke us up with typical German music.
“That evening we lost 5-1 because we didn’t have a good rest - so it was The Sun that won it.”
The Sun’s team team blasted traditional German music from the car park of the five-star Schlossgut Oberambach Hotel.
Sleepy players and staff - and furious team coach Rudi Voller - appeared at the windows of their rooms.
But the hotel manager failed to see the funny side and called police who arrested four Page Three Girls, four journalists, two drivers and a publicist.
Sun PR girl Lorna Carmichael famously quipped under German police interrogation: “I was only following orders.”
All those arrested were fined £80 for breach of the peace before being released released without charge.
England went on to thrash hot favourites Germany 5-1 on their home turf with a hat-trick from Michael Owen and a goal apiece from Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey.
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A Sun story the following day under the headline: “The Oompah strikes back” said: “As dawn broke, our girls were blasting the old foe with a giant silver sousaphone, a tuba and an array of horns - followed by tapes of blaring oompah tunes.”
England coach Sven Eriksson’s men went on to win the qualifying group and land a berth at the 2002 World Cup in Japan, beating the Germans into second place.
