England vs Germany - Preview.

As a massive football fan and former football coach, I wanted to give my two cents on this game.

There's no way this game can match the incredible scenes from yesterday is there?

Englands' group stage -

England opened the tournament with a solid yet dull 1-0 win against a sleepy Croatia who hadn't realized they're at the euros yet.

The second game was hyped up as one of the biggest, if not the biggest game of the tournament (so far) and although it was a goalless draw, as a neutral, it was a genuinely fantastic game and had almost every neutral keeping an eye on Scotlands last group game hoping they would win and qualify for the knockouts.

Englands' final game was against a Czech republic team full of confidence, and proving a lot tougher to play against than most everyone (apart from the Czechs themselves) thought they would have been. This was a relatively dead rubber of a game, with Raheem Sterling stepping up when his country needed him most to grab his second goal of the tournament and guarantee that England won the group.

All in all, Englands' group stage was pretty much exactly what they would have wanted, no injuries, 3 clean sheets, and top of the group.

Germanys' group stage (group of death) -

Germany was placed in a group with France (World cup winners), Portugal (European champions), and Hungary (who we now know like to cause upsets!)

Germany opened the tournament with one of the toughest games they could ask for, against France.

Perhaps the one thing they had in their favour was that the game was being played at home, in Bayerns' Allianz Arena.

After a relatively uneventful game, Mats hummels 20'(OG) was the only game of the game (in which Germany created almost 3x the chances France did) and ended in defeat for the Germans.

Next up was European champions, Portugal.

This game was hands down the game of the group stages, Germany found themselves a goal down after 15 minutes, but after two own goals from Portgual before halftime, and a strong opening 15 minutes to the second half, Germany had completely flipped the game on its head and were now 4-2 up. Diogo Jotas' 67th-minute strike was nothing but cancellation as the Germans went on to win their first game of Euro 2020,

Portugal 2-4 Germany.

Germany 2-2 Hungary.

Once again, Hungary had paid attention to the polar opposite performances from Germany in their opening games, and after gaining confidence from a remarkable 1-1 draw with France, knew they could go to Germany and cause an upset, and that's exactly what they did!

With so many permutations resting of this last day of group F, Germany wanted/needed to guarantee their way through the groups with a win, and fair play to them, they played really well (offensively) but once again, they looked shaky at the back and the Hungarians made them pay with two moments of brilliance.

Goretzka equalized on the 84th minute for the Germans and with France and Portugal drawing 2-2, this meant that Germany would be going through as runners up in the group of death, later being confirmed that they would set up the tasty looking fixture of England Vs Germany at Wembley on Tuesday 29th June 2021.

Germany vs England, Match preview.

According to the bookmakers, England are slight favorites for this matchup, and looking at their tournament records so far, the stats back this up.

What do I think will happen?

Taking a brief look back through history, England has lost four times to Germany in the major tournaments since the 1966 World Cup final.

The Germans are also undefeated in their last seven games at Wembley Stadium.

With all that said, I'm a firm believer that history doesn't matter in tournament football, especially with how different the English and German teams are now.

Tournament football is all about momentum and confidence, which I believe England has more of now.

England never really got out of second gear throughout the tournament stages, but still managed to keep 3 clean sheets, they only scored two goals, but all a player like Harry Kane needs is one goal, and he has the potential to win the golden boot.

England boasts a star-studded squad, with players like Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane, and Reece James.

Germany also has exceptional players, for instance, Joshua Kimmich, Kai Havertz, and Leroy Sane.

The game will be a tight affair, and I'm trying not to specifically say who I think will win as whoever makes it through on the day will fully deserve it, I just feel that due to Germanys' scoring record throughout the group stage (scoring six goals in their last two games, they may just have enough in them to outscore England in this one.

If it's a tight game, England will come out on top, if it's an open and expansive game, I believe Germany will find a way.

Maybe the forty-five thousand fans inside the stadium will have a part to play? we don't have long to wait until we find out!

Best of luck to both nations, and if the game is even half as good as Croatia Vs Spain, or Switzerland vs France, then we neutrals are in for a treat.

Thanks for reading,

Dan.