Preview Of Euro 2020, England Vs Germany: A Smell Of Past Rivalry

England National Team (Twitter @england)

JAKARTA - The meeting between the two teams is always peppered with things outside of football, about the rivalry between the two countries in every way.

That includes England coach Gareth Southgate. It was Southagte who crushed England's dream of reaching the first Euro final and at the same time the first Euro trophy in 1996 when it was held on English soil.

Southgate was the last penalty shoot-out to miss in that Euro 1996 semi-final which took place at the stadium where they now lead the Three Lions against Joachim Loew's men in the last 16 of Euro 2020, Wembley Stadium. Uniquely in the last seven matches at Wembley, Germany has never lost.

The 1996 tragedy was a repeat of the actions of Germany, which also eliminated England from the 1990 World Cup on penalties. Twenty years later in the 2010 World Cup England's goal was disallowed so Germany won again.

With so many scars that are hard to forget, it's no wonder the Euro 2020 last 16 match at Wembley, Tuesday night at 23.00 WIB opened the emotions of the players.

But Southgate tried to forget about it, especially when the tragedy of Euro 96 was 12 members of the England squad had not yet been born.

"I really don't think about the past, what happened, happened, the only thing we can do is now," said England winger Raheem Sterling.

Southgate chimed in, “it doesn't matter to them what happened in 1990 and after. Of course they've seen it."

Southgate had indeed invited his squad to watch the Euro 1996 semifinal footage. "It's not good for him but it's good you get experience from your coach," said England midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

Like Phillips, German full-back Robin Gosens wasn't born in 1996 either. But Gosens had a different opinion. "Remembering that makes you feel good and we want to repeat that."

Final preparations Tomorrow: pic.twitter.com/n8w9ejkuLE

— England (@England) June 28, 2021

When it comes to repeating good memories, Thomas Muller is probably the most interested, as Muller scored twice against England in the 2014 World Cup semifinals as Germany won 4-1.

But the player who strengthened Germany again in Euro 2020 was even reluctant to get carried away by the nostalgic atmosphere. "That has nothing to do with Tuesday's game," said Muller.

Muller doesn't want to be tied down by past romantics, especially since the Germany squad at Euro 2020 is very closely related to England because six of their players are Premier League players too, including Chelsea duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner. Even teenage player Jamal Musiala has defended the England junior team.

On the other hand in England there is Jadon Sancho who plays for Borussia Dortmund who hopes to be played by Southgate after only being a substitute against the Czechs.

"I'm going to show everyone what I can do. I know a lot of German players. I face them every week," said Sancho.

Statistics

England entered the last 16 stage unbeaten throughout the group stages including two wins, while Germany lost once in their opener and came close to being knocked out by Hungary in the last match of Group F.

The two countries have met 32 times and each has won 13 times. England is a little productive with 51 goals, while Germany 42 goals.

It was a special game for England coach Gareth Southgate as he will never forget the Euro 1996 semi-final when England lost 6-5 on penalties. Southgate became the sixth England kicker to fail to get the ball into the German goal. Germany won the tournament after beating the Czechs 2-1 in the final at Wembley.

Another memorable encounter was the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley when a Geoff Hurst hat-trick gave England a 4-2 win over Germany.

West Germany avenged that defeat four years later in the World Cup quarter-finals and then the 1990 World Cup semi-finals where they won 4-3 on penalties over England.

Thomas Mueller scored twice in the last competitive match between the two teams as Germany won 4-1 in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup.

Germany are unbeaten against England in their last seven meetings at Wembley. In total they have met 12 times at Wembley, of which Germany won six and drew two.

️ Training London ️#DieMannschaft #GER #EURO2020 #ENGGER pic.twitter.com/bxH3Hqa9gN

— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 28, 2021

This is England's tenth participation in the Euro finals, with a best record of third place at Euro 1968 and the semifinals at Euro 1996.

Since failing on the first occasion in 1968, Die Mannschaft have not missed this tournament so this is their 13th consecutive season at the European Cup finals.

Germany were European champions in 1972, 1980 and 1996, three times runners-up and once stopped in the semifinals of the 2004 edition. But the worst achievement was Euro 2000 when they were eliminated from the group stage.