Gary Neville: "It’s so special to play Germany at Wembley. It’s a major national moment for this country. The lads will not have another moment like this in their international careers. There isn’t a second chance. Go and take it."
Tuesday 29 June 2021 06:31, UK
Gary Neville has urged England's players to seize their once in a lifetime opportunity against Germany at Euro 2020.
The Sky Sports pundit suffered a painful Wembley Euros defeat to Germany himself in 1996 and says the current generation must do everything they can to capitalise on the advantages of playing such a huge game on their home turf.
Up to 45,000 fans will be in Wembley on Tuesday night for the last-16 and while that is some way short of the stadium's capacity, Neville believes the occasion, which he describes as a "major national moment", can inspire Gareth Southgate's players to what would be an historic win.
"I was a young player at Euro 96, just 21 years of age, and you feel like those moments are going to return," he told the Sky Sports Football Euros Podcast.
"What I'd say to these lads on Tuesday is this moment isn't coming back. This is it. Don't think of this moment ever coming back: playing Germany in a home tournament, in your own stadium, in front of 45,000 fans. You wish it was 80,000, like we had in Euro 96 but it will be enough, it will be a special moment.
"We didn't create history in Euro 96, we fell short. Don't fall short on Tuesday, lads.
"What an opportunity exists if we beat Germany on Tuesday. They'll know that.
"But don't think that [there will be] 2022 in Qatar or 2024 somewhere else or 2026 somewhere else… forget that, you might not be there. The team might not be there, you might not qualify. All those things exist in future tournaments that are out of your hands.
"This tournament now you have a great chance.
"It's so special to play Germany at Wembley, it really is. It's a major national moment for this country. That's how it was in Euro 96, a major moment that is remembered forever.
"The lads on Tuesday will not have another moment like this in their international careers because it's unlikely we're going to get a tournament [held in England] in the next five or 10 years.
"For the likes of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling this is it. There isn't a second chance.
"Only in 1966 and 1996 has it happened before and in 2021 you've got that chance. Go and take it."
Neville has named the line-up he'd like to see England go with against Germany, switching from a back four to a back three, with Bukayo Saka joining Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling in a front three.
He reckons that set-up would allow England to both contain the threats of Germany, who had lots of joy against Portugal in the group stages with their wing-backs, and also expose their weaknesses, with Neville fancying England's pacey front line to cause the German defence problems.
"It concerns me playing with a back four, thinking how we're going to get out to their wing-backs," he explained. "I thought we really struggled against Scotland getting out to them. If they control the game at Wembley it becomes a lot more difficult game.
"I think we've got brilliant wing-backs in Reece James or Kieran Trippier, and Luke Shaw on the left. But my thinking was to confront Germany's wing-backs Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens. If you stop them you're in with a great chance of winning this game.
"If we can narrow Sterling, Saka and Kane and have those three going against Germany's back three I think we can cause massive problems.
"In midfield they've got Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gundogan, and I think Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice will deal with them in terms of making sure they get up against them, so we're talking about who has got the best front three.
"I fancy us, whichever ones are picked, I genuinely think our front three on the pitch - with the substitutes we can make as well - I think that German back three will have serious problems against us.
"There will be people who say my team is too pragmatic, too boring. But nullify the wing-backs, deal with the central midfield where they've got better players than us, and let our front three run loose at their back three, and we'll handle their front players with John Stones, Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker."
While fellow pundit Jamie Carragher has suggested the tie could go down to penalty kicks, Neville says England shouldn't fear that prospect, despite their historic record in shootouts in Germany.
Instead, he is backing Southgate's side to edge "the game of our lives".
"It could be penalties," he said. "But it's not negative to say you're going to play Germany in a tournament and you'd accept penalties now, and we'd try to make it come our way.
"I've got faith in Gareth and his staff that he'll have prepared them really well. They'll be ready for it.
"We've kept clean sheets, this is the game of our lives, we're at home and I've got a feeling we're just going to nick it."
Is it going to happen again? Jamie Carragher is convinced England vs Germany is heading to penalties when they meet in the last-16 of Euro 2020 at Wembley on Tuesday.
The Sky Sports pundit joined Peter Smith to examine the clash and explain why these two evenly matched sides may end up only being separated by spot-kicks.
Carragher also dissects England's defence, which has kept three clean sheets, explains the factors Gareth Southgate will be weighing up when he decides to pick Jordan Henderson or not, and discusses whether Mason Mount or Ben Chilwell could still play a role, despite isolating until Monday.
Rivalries in international football do not get any bigger than England versus Germany. With the two nations set for a collision course in the last 16 of Euro 2020, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and Uli Kohler joined Peter Smith to analyse both camps ahead of Tuesday's showdown at Wembley.
PART 1 | Jamie Redknapp, a member of the England squad dumped out of Euro 96 by Germany, assesses the performances in the group stages of Euro 2020 and explains why Gareth Southgate's talented squad have nothing to fear against the Germans.
PART 2 | The prospect of facing England at Wembley is one every Germany player will relish irrespective of an inconsistent group stage, according to Sky Germany reporter Uli Kohler, who talks tactics, Jamal Musiala, Jadon Sancho and the dreaded prospect of penalties with Peter in part two.
