Germans relish facing old foes England in last 16

Germany coach Joachim Loew admitted he is anticipating the prospect of facing old enemies England on Sunday with a World Cup quarter-final place at stake.

“The round of 16 game [against England] will be a class encounter, we are looking forward to it,” said Loew whose side made sure of their place in the next round when midfielder Mesut Ozil’s second-half strike gave them a 1-0 win over Ghana.

In the 31 games between the two European powers, Germany have 10 wins, England have 15 with six draws. Few English fans will need reminding it was Germany who were beaten 4-2 at Wembley when captain Bobby Moore lifted the 1966 World Cup on home soil.

But Germany have held the upper hand at major tournaments since, winning the nail-biting penalty shoot-out in Turin to win the 1990 World Cup semi-final on their way to the title.

And it was England defender Gareth Southgate’s missed penalty at Wembley which saw Germany win the Euro ‘96 semi-final before the Germans won the final with current team manager Oliver Bierhoff scoring the winning goal.

Lampard labels clash ‘huge glamour game’

England midfielder Frank Lampard describes the last 16 date with old foes Germany as “a huge glamour game”.

The Germans were England’s ‘reward’ for taking the runners-up spot in Group C after Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat of Slovenia.

“Every game has its difficulties, but if it’s Germany it will be a huge glamour game that obviously the nation would take to its heart,” said Lampard who believes England should fear no team now that it has finally found its spirit and form again after a dismal display in their second match, the goalless stalemate with Algeria last Friday. “If we play like we did against Slovenia and improve on that then we’ve got a great chance. With that determination and spirit we all showed what we can do. I don’t think it matters who we play next, it’s always going to be a difficult game anyway. Any team we meet will be strong.”

Fifa releases extra tickets

Football fans eager to watch the match have a chance to buy tickets after organisers put just over 1,000 more on sale. Another 6,000 tickets will also be sold for the match between the US and Ghana.

The football governing body has been returning second-round tickets to the market as fans who bought team-specific tickets have seen their teams eliminated from the tournament.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2010.