England vs Germany: Who will win titanic tussle between familiar foes
A titanic tussle is in store as familiar foes England and Germany prepare to match wits for a coveted spot in the round of 16. Tuesday’s clash will be the third time England and Germany have met up at a Euro championship, and the first such meeting since the 2000 edition. Neither side have really impressed much so far in this summer’s competition, and fans will certainly hope that perhaps both the Three Lions and die Mannschaft were saving up their energies for the knockout rounds.
Although England come into this tie unbeaten from their three group stage encounters, Gareth Southgate’s men have yet to really get up and running. Despite keeping three clean sheets, England scored just twice during that time period. Raheem Sterling has been the star so far, with his two goals deciding proceedings against Croatia and the Czech Republic. While they kicked off this tournament with a well-earned win over Croatia – the first time England have won their opener – they were surprisingly blunt against Scotland as they failed to fire in a drab, scoreless draw. And although they earned a well-deserved win over the Czech Republic, with teenager Bukayo Saka looking quite impressive in particular, England will need to up the ante if they want to book their spot to the quarter-finals – and perhaps beyond.
The question is what version of Germany will England be meeting on Tuesday. Die Mannschaft have yet to fully stamp their authority on this competition, to say the least. Germany are really keen on showing the world that their horror show at the 2018 World Cup was just a fluke, but there remain major doubts about Joachim Low’s team. Observers have seen all kinds of showings from Germany so far. They opened things with a 1-0 loss to France, during which they looked disjointed and simply without focus; were it not for Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe being flagged offside, the score-line would’ve been much worse.
It seemed like the opening day loss was the jolt die Mannschaft needed because it was vintage Germany against Portugal. Atalanta’s Robin Gosens received high praise for his brilliant performance, as the versatile defender put in the best showings of his nascent international career. Gosens, who will be a name that’s familiar to many Serie A fans, was lively throughout, involved in both attack and defense and earned himself a goal and an assist for his efforts. Portugal did look brighter initially but quickly crumbled as Germany cranked up the pressure.
With that in mind, the match against Hungary was supposed to be pretty smooth sailing. Yes, the Eastern European minnows had managed to hold France to a draw, but even the top teams do have an off day here and there – and it’s very likely France were very much distracted with their showdown against Portugal. But Hungary had other ideas. From the outset, when they took a 1-0 lead through a header from striker Szalai, they were determined to stay afloat in this competition, and at one point, it actually looked that they’d qualify at the expense of Germany.
However, Bayern’s Leon Goretzka saved Germany’s blushes with a vital equalizer, and ensured they progressed to the next round as runners-up in Group F. That made sure Germany avoided facing Belgium, but it remains to be seen if England will be a better choice of opponent.
Both teams could be missing few players for this match. For England, Chelsea duo Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were put into self-isolation after fears they may have contracted COVID-19; both have since tested negative but aren’t likely to play as they haven’t trained. Meanwhile, Germany may see Thomas Muller return to the starting XI after the veteran came on as a sub for the match with Hungary, but he’ll have to be further evaluated, while Antonio Rudiger missed training due to a cold and it’ll remain to be seen if he features.
So far, England and Germany have won one of their respective Euro meetings; the Three Lions won back in 2000, while Germany won on penalties at Euro 1996. Who will come out on top here in this much anticipated clash between two very familiar foes?
