Jadon Sancho has been handed just one substitute appearance for England at Euro 2020 so far; Borussia Dortmund winger hoping to feature against Germany in last-16 clash at Wembley on Tuesday; Sancho: "When I get my chance to play, I'll show everyone what I can do"
Monday 28 June 2021 10:42, UK
Jadon Sancho says he is ready to "show everyone what I can do" if he is given a rare opportunity to play at Euro 2020 when England take on Germany on Tuesday.
Sancho is part of the England squad preparing to face Germany at Wembley after finishing top of Group D with seven points from their three games.
However, the winger has struggled for opportunities at the tournament, with his six-minute cameo off the bench against the Czech Republic in the final group game his only action so far.
But Sancho says it was "special" to make his first appearance at a major tournament, and believes that competition for places can help England succeed at Euro 2020 - even if it impacts his game time.
Speaking on The Official England Podcast, he said: "It was definitely special to get my first minutes in the game. It was something that I'll never forget.
"Hopefully I can get more minutes in games to come. I'll just take my time and when I get my chance to play, I'll show everyone what I can do.
"I think competition helps everyone. If you don't have competition then sometimes you can get carried away and you don't see the things you need to work on to try to improve your game.
"Definitely competition is very high here."
Sancho has 20 caps for England, all of which have been won since he joined Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City in August 2017.
The 21-year-old has established himself as one of the outstanding attacking talents in Germany, with his performances set to earn him a £77m move to Manchester United this summer.
Sancho is hoping his time in Germany could help him earn a place in the England team to play Joachim Low's side on Tuesday, saying: "I know quite a lot of the players in Germany.
"I play against them week in, week out, so it's definitely interesting seeing them with their national team.
"Hopefully - if I play - I will know the ins and outs of what players can do."
Sancho is one of two Dortmund players in the England squad, along with Jude Bellingham, who will be handed a memorable 18th birthday present if he plays against Germany on Tuesday.
The midfielder became a regular for Dortmund last season - his first since signing from Birmingham - and Sancho says he deserves all the plaudits that come his way.
"The kid is mature, everyone can notice that," Sancho said. "He deserves it. He's been working extremely hard at Dortmund.
"In his first training you could tell that he was ready to ball out over in Germany. I'm very happy for him and his family.
"The sky's the limit for Jude. Being at a major tournament for England is a very big thing, and as you can see he's coming on and doing his role for the team."
Dominic Calvert-Lewin says England are not underestimating Germany ahead of their last-16 meeting on Tuesday and insists they can show more creativity in the knockout phase at Euro 2020.
Joachim Low's Germany side began the tournament poorly with a 1-0 defeat to France on home soil at the Allianz Arena in Munich and, despite overcoming Portugal, they scraped through to the round of 16 with a 2-2 draw against Hungary in their final Group F clash.
Germany are in a transitional phase with Low set to step down at the end of the Euros, but they hold a strong track record of success in the competition and have reached either the semi-finals or the final every time since 2004 when they suffered a surprise early exit at the group phase.
Calvert-Lewin said: "We as a group are definitely not underestimating the challenge that we've got and the quality that they have. It's like any game we go into; we do our due diligence and work out how we can counteract the way that they play.
"They always tend to play a certain way, they're well-oiled and they play a certain system more often than not.
"I suppose there's big history with England and Germany playing against each other so maybe it's that which people think [about], but we're not too concerned about that, it's another game of football which we are going to try and win."
