By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Duels against Germany allow writing history for England's players, Three Lions coach Gareth Southgate said ahead of Tuesday's Euro 2020 last 16 encounter in the Wembley arena.
"The team can write history and deliver fans new memories that might be different to the ones they have been inundated with over the past days," the 50-year-old said.
Southgate referred to England's poor record in the past four knock-out clashes against Germany. "This doesn't affect most of our players as they weren't even born that time," the England manager stated.
Southgate is expecting a confident German team "as they come to Wembley without fear. We need our best performance on all levels," he added.
His players have the rare opportunity to score in England's shirt at Wembley, the former defender stated.
German coach Joachim Loew talked about a delicate do-or-die issue and said his side is on fire.
"All games between England and Germany provided topics fans were talking about for many years," the 61-year-old said.
To possibly experience his last game in charge isn't in his mind, Loew said. "What keeps me busy is only on that game as we want to continue our journey," the 2014 World Cup champion commented.
Germany's most pressing issue is to get over England's solid defense as they didn't conceive a goal in their three group matches.
"For us, it's about how we can stop their dynamic attacking line and find solutions for our game up front," Loew added.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer demanded a well-oiled team performance after the Germans have allowed five goals in their three group encounters.
The 2020 treble winner said his side is well prepared for decisive games as "we already had a final-like game in our tournament opener against France."
The game might require "more patience than many expect," the Bayern keeper said.
The German coach said his starting 11 depends on the healing process of Robin Gosens, Ilkay Guendogan, and Antonio Ruediger. All three showed light influenza symptoms.
"We decide about that by tomorrow as things might change overnight," Loew said. The German coach said he most likely won't change his tactical approach and will stick to three centrals in a back-row of five.
"It's not the system that is deciding games; it's how you act in different situations," Loew said. Games in a knock-out stage are not meant to be festivals. "The only goal is to get to the next round.
We saw several teams doing well in the group. But we saw the Netherlands fail in its first knock-out game."
Neuer announced both teams agreed to jointly protest against racism by kneeling in advance of the game. "We have seen the English team do that as well as many teams in the Premier League. As we share the same values, we decided to join in next to me wearing the rainbow band," he said. Enditem
