England eased past Slovenia 1-0 to finish runners up in Group C and now face a dramatic showdown against the ‘old enemy’ Germany on Sunday 27th, whilst group winners USA will play Ghana the previous evening. England’s performance was much better than against Algeria the previous Saturday. The United States secured a place in the last sixteen after a dramatic late winner from Landon Donovan against the Algerians. The goal put Slovenia out of the World Cup and booked the American’s match with the runner up of group D.
Germany’s Mehmet Ozil scored a superb winner in the second half against Ghana, whilst Serbia failed to beat Australia, going down 2-1 after a superb header from Tim Cahill to open the scoring. Germany have impressed so far in the tournament, even if they did lose to the Serbians in their second fixture. England have met Germany four times in World Cup history – most famously in the 1966 World Cup final when England won the match 4-2. The second time the two sides met a Gerd Muller inspired performance helped the Germans get revenge in the 3-2 victory in 1970. The sides met again in 1982 in a 0-0 draw and the last meeting occurred eight years later, when the Germans won on penalties after a tight 1-1 draw.
England manager Fabio Capello has an injury concern in Wayne Rooney, after withdrawing the striker in the second half after he picked up an ankle injury. Capello spoke earlier to reveal: “I think Wayne will be okay for the next game. We play together, we fight together,” Capello added. “I’ve again found the team I know. We can go forward against all the teams because the players’ minds now are free, without fear, without doubt.” England haven’t lost a game in open play since the 2-1 defeat to Brazil back in 2002, however did go out on penalties to Portugal in 2006 and I’m sure no England fan wants to see the game go to penalties this time round.
