Gareth Southgate said England's past defeats to Germany at major tournaments have no bearing on Tuesday's Euro 2020 last-16 game and his players will go into the match focused on their own performance.
England has not defeated Germany in the knockout match of a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup final, losing at the 1990 World Cup, 1996 Euros and 2010 World Cup, the first two defeats coming after shoot-outs in the semifinals.
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Southgate, who missed the crucial spot-kick in their Euro 96 loss, said history meant little to his young squad.
"I don't need to demystify it. The history is an irrelevance for them," Southgate told ITV Sport .
"Of course, they are watching that stuff and getting a bit of an understanding of it but it's not something we're speaking to them about.
"This team has put down lots of historical performances in the last couple of years, made their own history, made their own stories and this is how they should view this game," he added.
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England has never won a knockout match over 90 minutes at the Euros. Four of its knockout stage games went to shootouts and England progressed only once -- against Spain at Wembley at in 1996.
"It's an opportunity," Southgate added. "We've only won one knockout match in a European Championship as a country, so they've got a great chance to go and be the first team since 1996 to do that."
The winner of Tuesday's game will face either Sweden or Ukraine in the quarterfinal on Saturday.
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