HIGHLIGHTS
ANALYSIS |
REPORT | Sterling, Kane goals send England into quarterfinals
FINAL SCORE | ENG 2-0 GER
FULL TIME: GAME. SET. MATCH.
THE 'NEW-LOOK' ENGLAND IS INTO THE QUARTERFINALS! GARETH SOUTHGATE'S SIDE IS SET TO MEET UKRAINE OR SWEDEN IN ROME DURING THE EARLY HOURS OF SUNDAY (IST).
This is the side's first win in the knockout stagesof the European Championships in 25 years. Also, this is the first time Germany has been beaten in a Euro knockout match before the semifinals.
90+4' Germany wins a free-kick midway inside the England half. Kroos over it. England clears.
90+2' Muller walks off and on comes Musiala. If this is his last international fixture, the missed opportunity at Wembley is going to sting him forever.
90+1' Havertz misses again - this time a low cross at the back post. Low doesn't believe what he is seeing.
90' Havertz drags it well wide from 20 yards. We will have four minutes of added time, ladies and gentlemen.
88' Rice is off for Henderson. Germany makes some changes too, but is it all too late? Can in for Ginter, Sane for Gosens.
86' HARRRYYYYY KAAAAAAAAAANE! Shaw finds Grealish on the left. The Aston Villa winger lobs in a cross to Kane, who nods home his first goal in the tournament.
80' England is off the hook as a one-in-a-million opportunity goes abegging for the visitor! Muller, still looking for his elusive goal in the European Championship, might be playing his last 10 minutes in the continental showpiece. Goes straight on goal, with two defenders chasing and Pickford charging in at him, but makes a mess of what should have been a sitter.
78' Maguire is booked for a foul on Kimmich at the edge of the England box.
75' GOAL! IT'S THAT MAN AGAIN... IT'S THE NUMBER 10! This is the third goal in four games for Sterling. Kane picks out Shaw on the left, who drills in a low cross to find the Man City playmaker six yards out. No mistakes made thereafter as he finishes, cool as a cucumber. London erupts.
72' A brief stoppage in play as Trippier has pulled up and is being attended to. On another note, it has been 20 minutes since either of the sides have had a shot on goal.
71' Grealish has taken Sterling's place on the left. This should be exciting.
Yellow card! Naive challenge by Gosens on Trippier.
68' Grealish replaces Saka, who has not put one foot wrong tonight ( But why? ). Gnabry comes on for Werner.
66' Grealish is out of his tracksuit bottoms and that invites cheers from the crowd. Meanwhile, Gnabry looks set to walk in as well.
64' Havertz and Rudiger combine outside the box to lay a pass onto Werner's path. He sends in a grounded cross, that gets booted away to Sterling. The Manchester City striker leads the charge in a counter-attack that crumbles at the midway line.
62' Sterling overcooks the delivery from the edge off the area on the left and instead of finding Kane, hands Neuer some catching practice.
60' Saka is visibly in pain after he takes a fall courtesy Ginter's sliding clearance. More worries for England. He is fit to continue as well.
56' Kane seems okay to carry on. Meanwhile, Stones cramps Werner in the box as Germany pockets a corner. The resolute England defence clears.
54' Kane goes down, clutching his knee. This looks bad. Southgate in urgent conference with his assistants. Rashford, the principal candidate, is limbering up on the sidelines. The physio comes onto the pitch.
53' Pickford gets his knuckles onto a dipping delivery in the box before Gosens could get to it.
52' The half-time break hasn't slowed the tempo of the game down. Sterling dribbles past Goretzka on the left but gets held off by Kimmich as he holds onto the ball for a bit too long.
48' Sensational save by Pickford! Kroos threads one to Gosens, whose cross sees Havertz pull the trigger on the half-volley from 20 yards. The England shot-stopper, however, tips it over.
46' The English fans continue to chant the national anthem, only to break for occasional boos, to fire up the side.
45' Sterling gets us underway! No change in personnel at the break.
HALF-TIME: Nothing separates the two sides at the conclusion of the first-half. The game had its moments, but England - and especially Harry Kane - really needs to step on it to get a favourable result at home tonight.
45+1' Chance! A heroic intervention from Hummels, who slides into the goalline to deny Kane as the England captain was just about composing himself for a shot on goal.
45' Yellow card for Phillips as he pulls off a clumsy challenge on Kroos. A minute has been added on.
44' With David Beckham and Ed Sheeran watching on from the stands, Hummels nods Trippier's delivery out of the park before Kane could charge in. The scoreline doesn't change post the corner-kick.
41' Finally some positive intent from Kane as he looks to turn in from the left flank. However, Goretzka's foul sees him hit the deck.
36' Kane gets another touch as Shaw takes a throw-in inside the Germany half.
35' The tables have turned. England has managed to pip Die Mannschaft on the possession chart (52%).
33' Havertz picks out Werner. Stones tries to win the ball but the Chelsea forward does well to fend him off. Gets a shot in as well but Pickford makes a crucial save.
30' Hummels has been brilliant tonight, springing into action whenever the side has required him to. Clears a searching cross from Sterling this time.
29' Kane has had TWO touches, thus far. Yes, you've read that right... two. The lowest by anybody on the pitch!
27' Just wide! Trippier gets a cross into the box again. Maguire connects but it sails wide off target.
26' Trippier clips it into the penalty area but Kimmich puts it out for a corner.
24' Ginter to miss the quarterfinal if Germany progresses after he goes into the referee's book for a foul on Shaw.
23' Saka wins a free-kick about 35 yards out on the left. Shaw and Trippier are over it again. Hummels comes to the rescue yet again after Neuer keeps the ball out.
20' England stroking the ball in its own half. The buildup sees Trippier getting flagged offside on the right as he receives a pass from Walker.
18' England has broken the shackles after being somewhat uncomfortable with Southgate's new 3-4-3 early on. Maguire dispossesses Muller to initiate a promising counter-attack but it comes down to nought.
17' Trippier lefts the ball towards Maguire again, who heads it straight into the German keeper's mitts.
16' Sterling drops himself into a bit of space and unleashes a fierce shot from 25 yards. However, Neuer has repelled it for a corner kick with a magnificently-timed dive.
13' Rudiger concedes a free-kick for a foul on Saka. An unnecessary move, if you ask me. Rice to take it. Trippier lifts it onto the back post but Hummels swings it clear.
10' Havertz and Kroos standing over the free-kick. The former goes for a grounded shot which hits the defensive wall. Rice boots it away for a throw-in.
7' Rice has been booked; the yellow card is more of a let-off for the host as Goretzka has been brought down right outside the penalty area. Free-kick from a dangerous area - just about 20 yards from goal.
4' Each Germany touch is being greeted with boos from the home crowd. Goretzka goes for it from just outside the England box but Pickford gathers comfortably on this occasion.
3' Goretzka finds Kimmich on the right, who sends in a menacing cross. Pickford fails to get to it, but an alert Walker nods it behind for a corner. Nothing, however, comes for the setpiece.
2' Muller gets warned for shoving Maguire. Trippier and Shaw behind what will be the first free-kick of the night.
1' KICKOFF! The referee's whistle is greeted with a huge roar from the frenzied 43,000 at the arena in London. Werner gets the ball rolling from left to right after the players take a knee.
9:26 PM IST: Time for the national anthems. Germany up first.
9:25 PM IST: The teams are walking out onto the pitch led by match officials Danny Makkelie, Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries.
While 43,000 fans at Wembley and football aficionados across the globe wait for the high-voltage kickoff with bated breath, here are a few articles you may go through:
WHAT THEY SAID
Harry Kane to BBC Sport: We've been waiting a while for this game, it's felt like a long build-up, we're ready and excited to get out there. We've played the back three a lot amongst this team, we've chopped and changed over the last few years, and it's something we're used to. You have to look at the opposition and see what suits us best. Hopefully we can exploit a few of their weaknesses.
Gareth Southgate to BBC Sport : It's down to their (Saka, Trippier) performances already in the tournament and in training. Bukayo's speed behind the backline will be really important and he's been comfortable at receiving under pressure. That will be key to today's game. Kieran has experience and adds to set-plays with his deliveries. He is one of the best communicators we have in the team. For it to be a wonderful night we have to win, it's as simple as that! We have to play with composure and we have to make good decisions. It is not a game which can be won just on passion and athleticism.
TEAM NEWS
Kieran Trippier replaces Jack Grealish as England coach Gareth Southgate goes for the much-talked-about 3-4-3. Bukayo Saka stays up front. Mason Mount is on the bench while Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ben Chilwell and Ben White miss out altogether.
ENGLAND:Pickford (GK); Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Rice, Phillips, Shaw; Saka, Kane (C), Sterling.
Subs: Grealish, Henderson, Rashford, Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Sancho, Mount, Foden, Johnstone, James, Bellingham.
Leon Goretzka comes in for Ilkay Gundogan, who is out with an injury. Timo Werner and Thomas Muller, who started on the bench the last time around, are set to start. Despite all the banter, Jamal Musiala only makes the subs.
GERMANY:Neuer (GK/C); Ginter, Hummels, Rudiger; Kimmich, Gosens, Kroos, Goretzka; Muller, Havertz, Werner.
Subs: Halstenberg, Volland, Gnabry, Leno, Musiala, Sule, Neuhaus, Sane, Gundogan, Trapp, Can, Koch.
Match Officials: Referee - Danny Makkelie (NED); Assistant referees - Hessel Steegstra (NED), Jan de Vries (NED); Fourth official - Srdjan Jovanovic (SRB); Video Assistant Referee - Pol van Boekel (NED)
PREDICTED XI
ENGLAND: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Henderson, Phillips, Shaw; Saka, Sterling, Kane
GERMANY : Neuer; Ginter, Hummels, Rudiger; Kimmich, Gundogan, Kroos, Gosens; Havertz, Muller, Gnabry
RECENT FORM
ENGLAND: W-W-W-D-W
GERMANY : D-W-L-W-D
MATCH PREVIEW
When you train on the Sir Bobby Charlton Pitch, it's hard to escape the burden of past glory.
And when Gareth Southgate is your coach, it's even harder for the England players to escape the anguish that can come from playing Germany at a tournament.
It was Southgate's penalty miss in a shootout against Germany that prevented England from reaching the 1996 European Championship final at the old Wembley Stadium.
There had already been the loss to Germany on penalties at the 1990 World Cup. Twenty years later came more World Cup agony against Germany, laced with the injustice of a wrongly disallowed goal.
No wonder the renewal of the rivalry with Germany on Tuesday in the round of 16 at this year's European Championship is rousing so many memories of past meetings in England.
But it can seem to be a lopsided rivalry.
“We've got boys born into the 2000s, which is obviously scary,” Southgate said. “It's of no consequence to them … what happened in 1990 and so on. Of course, they're watching that stuff.”
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Southgate played the squad clips of him missing that penalty in the Euro '96 semifinals when they met up for Euro 2020.
“It isn't nice for him but it is nice to get the experience from your coach,” England midfielder Kalvin Phillips said.
“You don't really want to talk too much about it to Gareth in case it is too much of a touchy subject.” Like Phillips, Germany wing back Robin Gosens wasn't born in 1996.
“I obviously heard a lot about it,” he said.
“Thinking about it gives you a good feeling and we want to repeat that.” Ask many current England players about their first memories of a match against Germany and it's the 2010 World Cup when Frank Lampard's shot crossed the line but was ruled out, sparking the introduction of goal-line technology.
Thomas Muller scored twice in Germany's eventual 4-1 victory and the forward is still part of the squad at Euro 2020.
"That has nothing to do with Tuesday's game,” Muller said.
“Some people will be able to draw some motivation from that.” There's much more familiarity between England and Germany these days in the club game.
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There are German coaches in the Premier League with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea, who have been quickly embraced in England for their tactical intelligence and affable public engagement in English.
“The charisma he has got, a lot of people love him even if you're a neutral fan," England midfielder Jordan Henderson said of Klopp, his coach at Liverpool.
“He's had a big part in English football.” Six of Germany's European Championship squad play in the Premier League, including Chelsea's recent Champions League-winning duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.
Another member of Joachim Low's squad, Bayern Munich teenager Jamal Musiala, only switched his national eligibility this year after playing for both Germany and England youth teams.
“It was definitely a regret that he did go,” English Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said.
In Germany, though, they wonder about the Bundesliga player in Southgate's squad not starting. Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho's only appearance so far was as a late substitute in the group-stage win over the Czech Republic.
“When I get my chance to play, I'll show everyone what I can do,” he said.
“I know quite a lot of the players in Germany. I play against them week in, week out.”
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