England face old foes Germany in Euros round of 16 clash

England will come up against arch rivals Germany, in their crucial round of 16 match this evening at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate and his men will be looking to overcome the demons of Euro 1996 semi final against the Germans, in which Southgate missed an all important penalty.

The loss followed England’s only ever win in a Euros knockout match, overcoming Spain on penalties in the quarters.

England have not won a major tournament knockout game against Germany since the World Cup final in 1966.

1970 World Cup saw England lose 3-2 in extra time in the quarter finals against Germany.

The two wouldn’t meet again till the 1990 World Cup, where England lost on 4-3 on penalties, after the match finished 1-1.

Their latest major tournament meeting came in the 2010 World Cup, a match England fans will remember for Frank Lampard’s goal that was never given.

The Three Lions would go on to lose the match 4-1, after the obvious goal was not given with the scores at 2-1.

However, England will take some solace from the fact the semi final loss in ’96 was the only time they have been beaten on home soil in a major tournament.

They will also be backed by 40,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, with ticketing restrictions being relaxed, which England will hope to advantage from.

Both sides will be looking to set up a quarter final in Rome with Sweden or Ukraine.

The winner of this will then face the winner of Denmark v Czech Republic in the semi finals, giving whoever wins todays heavyweight battle, the arguably easier route to the final.

This is compared to Belgium v Italy and Switzerland v Spain on the other side of the draw.

England’s route through the tournament so far has been pretty simple for Southgate’s side.

Pragmatic performances in the group stage means that they are yet to concede a goal so far at the Euros.

However, they have only scored 2, both coming from Man City’s Raheem Sterling.

Their first match saw an impressive 1-0 win against 2018 World Cup runners up Croatia, before England were frustrated in a 0-0 draw with rivals Scotland.

In the final match of the group, England scraped past Czech Republic in another 1-0 win. The Three Lions failing to have a shot after the 26th minute.

Lack of goals and creativity, which has been no doubt affecting Harry Kane’s performance, will give Germany hope coming into the clash.

Only already eliminated Hungary and Finland have had fewer shots than England so far at Euro 2020.

Hungary are also the only side to have created fewer chances in total or in open play.

However, the Germans didn’t have the most convincing of group stage themselves, blowing hot and cold.

Joachim Low’s side were 6 mins away from exiting the tournament, until Leon Goretzka equalised late on against Hungary.

The German’s were also not up to scratch in their opening game against World Cup champions France, losing 1-0.

But, Low’s men showed significant improvement as they overcame Portugal by 2 goals, beating the current Euros holders 4-2.

England will welcome back Chelsea duo Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell, who were originally isolating after being deemed a close contact with Scottish midfielder Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for COVID-19, following the Scotland game.

Southgate will also have positive selection issues in attack, as he has to pick between tournament top scorer Sterling, Czech Republic MOTM Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish and Phil Foden who have both impressed in flashes so far.

Jadon Sancho, who plays for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, is also an option.

Germany are deemed to be without issues, as defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan are expected to be fit.

Chelsea’s Rudiger (cold) and Manchester City’s Gundogan (head injury) missed training on Sunday but were back the following day.

The match will kick off at 5pm and will be shown live on BBC.

Featured image: Wikiolo