Two old foes, England and Germany, clash at Wembley, providing us with yet another chapter in their anthological rivalry.
Two old foes, England and Germany, clash at Wembley, providing us with yet another chapter in their anthological rivalry.
Is there a better delight for the football fans than to watch the match between England and Germany in the knockout stage of one European championship? We feel the same way. The classic that goes beyond the boundaries of sports and enters some other, off-field matters will undoubtedly bring a lot of fun. England has a slight advantage, and that is playing at home, at Wembley, but on the other side, Die Mannschaft’s edge in this one is not having the amount of pressure as their rivals.
We are not delighted with the way England played during the group stage. Hats off to their clean sheets, but overall they haven’t shown anything that would make them a contender for winning this competition.
Right now, Gareth Southgate’s side has four wins in five games, all of them 1-0. During the three opening contests of the EURO 2020, the Three Lions defeated Croatia and the Czech Republic, adding a goalless draw versus Scotland.
Overall, the defense is the best part of this unit, with Maguire, Walker, Stones, and the boys conceding just once in the recent nine matches. But everything else apart from that is very pale, particularly the performances of the midfielders who are way below the expected level.
Even though they squeezed through the group stage, the Germans showed more than England, to be honest. Losing to France was one big tragedy for Joachim Low’s side because they dictated the tempo for all 90 minutes. The same was in the other two games, which paid off against Portugal, 4-2, and didn’t so much against Hungary, 2-2.
In the latter event, Die Mannschaft had to save its skin in the last moments of the game, clawing its way back following Hungary’s two leads.
Like always, this unit plays extremely interesting and intense football with lots of pace and intensity. Germany usually takes possession of the ball from the rivals and constantly attacks, pressuring the rival’s backline. Sometimes it comes back like a boomerang, and in the latest six games, Die Mannschaft allowed at least one goal.
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Phillips; Foden, Grealish, Sterling; Kane
Germany: Neuer; Ginter, Hummels, Rudiger; Kimmich, Kroos, Goretzka, Gosens; Havertz, Muller; Gnabry
The two sides have a long history. They met twice at Wembley during international matches. The first game was in 1966 once England won the World Cup, beating the big rivals 4-2. The second was 30 years later, with the Germans paying back and eliminating the Three Lions in the EURO semis following a penalty shootout.
We believe that the Germans are going to eliminate England and advance to the quarterfinals. Not to win during the 90 minutes, but to proceed to the next stage. England’s performances in the past several games are not promising, while on the other side, despite not posting the results as their rivals, Germany plays much better. They take the initiative, control the rhythm, and constantly attack. This might look risky, but the profit is superb.