The Sun Newspaper

LOTHAR MATTHAUS is baffled by Jadon Sancho’s lack of England action – and wishes he could get a German passport! Borussia Dortmund star Sancho, 21, has played just SIX MINUTES at the Euros.
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Jadon Sancho looking frustrated on the England benchCredit: Getty
Lothar Matthaus cannot believe Sancho is not being used by EnglandCredit: Jamie McPhilimey – The Sun
And ahead of Tuesday’s huge last-16 clash with old foes Germany, World Cup-winning legend Matthaus said: “He was one of the best players in the Bundesliga for the last two years.
“If he is not good enough for England, we would like to give him a German passport.
“It has surprised many in Germany.”
Matthaus warns England have to beat Germany inside 120 minutes or prepare for more penalty shootout heartbreak.
The two sides face each other in a major tournament for the eighth time on Tuesday.
Victories for the Three Lions have been few and far between – the World Cup final in 1966 and a 1-0 win in the 2000 Euros group stage stand alone.
And England have never beaten Germany in a shootout – including scarring defeats at Italia 90 and Euro 96, when current boss Gareth Southgate missed.

Matthaus said: “England have a chance to win – but not with penalty kicks.
“If it goes to penalties, Germany will win, so England have to do it inside 120 minutes.
“We are always very good with penalties. It’s always a little bit of a joke between the Germans and the English but if it goes to a shootout then we are the favourites. You start to think about what has happened in the last 30 or 40 years. When we played in 1990 and 1996…
“It’s a lot of pressure for the English players because they read every day in the newspapers all the stories about penalties.”
Matthaus was involved in the shootout with England at the 1990 World Cup, scoring Germany’s second before Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed theirs.
Matthaus added: “In 1990, we knew we could win the World Cup and we were ready to win it.
“This confidence was growing in the tournament and we showed it.
“The best game was against England in the semis. England had a fantastic team and they were getting better and better throughout the tournament – it was a strong fight between England and Germany to go the final.”
Jadon Sancho has had just six minutes on the pitch at Euro 2020Credit: Getty
England’s sorry record against Germany

Another tough battle is expected on Tuesday as Southgate welcomes Joachim Low’s underperforming side to Wembley.
Home advantage could prove crucial yet Matthaus believes the Germans will love playing at England’s “magical” national stadium.
He added: “Nobody wanted this game so early. Maybe we would have accepted England versus Germany in the final. It could have been another final like 1966!
“England don’t like to play against Germany but Germany also don’t like to play against England.
“But the players have to be happy to have a big game in Wembley. It doesn’t get any better.
“Wembley is something magical still and in the last 20 or 30 years we had very good experiences – we won Euro 96 there, Didier Hamann scored the last goal in the old Wembley. We like Wembley.”
Stuttgart-born Jamal Musiala, who represented England from Under-15s to Under-21s has switched allegiance to Germany.

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He became the youngest German player to feature at a major tournament, at 18 years and 177 days, after coming off the bench during their 2-2 draw with Hungary.
And Matthaus said: “For me, he has to start against England.”

Matthaus was speaking as research from Official Accommodation and Attractions Booking Partner of UEFA EURO 2020™, Booking.com found that 61% of English supporters would rather see Germany, their main rivals, win the upcoming tournament, than skip their next holiday.

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SINCE a certain match in 1966, England have faced the Germans four times in the knockout stages of a major tournament — and been defeated every time.So while this may not be a vintage German team, and while England are eight places higher than their old foes in the Fifa rankings, there was a sense of national dread when Joachim Low’s men were confirmed as England’s last-16 opponents.
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England have not beaten Germany in the knockout stages of the tournament since 1966Credit: Getty – Contributor
England boss Gareth Southgate has a shot at redemption after missing a penalty against the Germans in the Euro 96 semi-finalCredit: PA:Press Association
The Three Lions have been defeated four times by their rivals in elite competition since football last came homeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
If England play the match, rather than the occasion of a great historic rivalry, those rankings suggest Gareth Southgate’s men should win.
But England played the occasion rather than the match in their God-awful goalless draw against Scotland last Friday, so they must learn from that experience.
Because, as it is Germany, we are gripped by a fear of history repeating itself.
As defending world champions in Mexico in 1970, England tossed away a 2-0 lead to lose to West Germany in the quarter-finals — Gordon Banks suffering food poisoning and Peter Bonetti having a stinker in goal.
Then, those two penalty shootout defeats which abruptly halted the oh-so-nearly golden summers of Italia 90 and Euro 96.
England had played very well in both 1-1 draws, only for Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and Southgate to be cast as the fall guys, Germany scoring ten spot-kicks out of ten past Peter Shilton and David Seaman.
Most recently, Fabio Capello’s England were hammered 4-1 by Low’s Germany in Bloemfontein at the 2010 World Cup — at the same last-16 stage as next Tuesday’s Wembley meeting.
You may recall the Frank Lampard ‘ghost goal’ which crashed against the underside of the bar and fell way over the line, only to be missed by a myopic Uruguayan linesman.

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That would have made it 2-2 just before half-time.
Yet England were played off the park for the vast majority of that match — a young Mesut Ozil instrumental in a performance that exposed the rigid stodginess of England’s 4-4-2 formation.
There has been one English win at a tournament since 1966 — a 1-0 group-stage victory at Euro 2000, where both teams were eliminated before the knockout stages.
Although, later that year, the Germans won the final international match at the old Wembley in a World Cup qualifier, forcing manager Kevin Keegan to quit in the toilets.

England tossed away a 2-0 lead to lose to West Germany in the quarter-finals in 1972Credit: DPA/Press Association Images
Penalty shoot-out defeats cost the Three Lions at both Italia 1990 and Euro 96 on home soilCredit: Bob Thomas Sports Photography – Getty
The Germans rebooted their entire national football strategy after 2000.
While the English appointed Sven-Goran Eriksson and headed down the Posh and Becks WAGs circus approach instead.
During Eriksson’s honeymoon period in 2001, the Swede presided over England’s second-greatest victory over the Germans — an astonishing World Cup qualifying victory in Munich — ‘Five-one, even Heskey scored!’
And yet Germany reached the final of that World Cup, while England went home at the quarter-final stage, as they always did under Eriksson.
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There have been two more English wins on German soil this century — most memorably a comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in Berlin under Roy Hodgson in the build-up to Euro 2016. But we all know how that tournament ended for the Three Lions.
Still, this time could be different. England have conceded just one goal in nine games and the Germans went into this tournament in some disarray.
Low announced the Euros would be the end of his 15-year reign and the team is certainly in transition.
Germany were beaten at home by North Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier in March and had been handed a 6-0 gubbing by Spain in the Nations League last autumn.

Yet there is an old adage that the Germans always get their act together at a tournament — often, but not always, true as they were eliminated in the group stages of the last World Cup.
And after a narrow 1-0 defeat by France in their Euros opener, an impressive 4-2 victory over reigning champions Portugal hinted that there could yet be a glorious last hurrah for Low.
The Germans boast three Chelsea Champions League winners in Kai Havertz, who scored the winner against Manchester City in Porto, Timo Werner and that teak-tough defender, Antonio Rudiger.
Old hands such as Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos and the restored Thomas Muller — all veterans of the 2014 World Cup triumph — will give them the edge over England in terms of big-match experience.
But, for once, England will not head into this grudge match as underdogs.
They will have home advantage, a higher ranking, a meaner defence and the most potent striker on the pitch in Harry Kane.
Frank Lampard’s ‘ghost goal’ cost England against Germany at the World Cup in 2010Credit: Getty Images – Getty

The Germans certainly have recent footballing history on their side.
But next Tuesday teatime, as a nation skives off work early, Southgate’s men need to swallow the words of Henry Ford — ‘history is more or less bunk’.
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GARETH SOUTHGATE will order England stars to avoid  contact with club-mates from other nations due to  Covid.Mason Mount and Ben  Chilwell are isolating ahead of Tuesday night’s Czech Republic clash after hugging Scotland pal Billy Gilmour, who  tested positive.
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England’s Luke Shaw and Declan Rice embrace Scotland’s Billy Gilmour after the 1-1 group draw last FridayCredit: PA
Billy Gilmour and Chelsea team-mate Mason Mount embraced afterwardsCredit: The Sun
England boss Gareth Southgate will warn his players but believes they will avoid risks of breaching protocolsCredit: Getty
Boss Southgate said: “I don’t think the players need us to warn them after what’s  happened today  but, for sure, we will.”
The Three Lions pair potentially broke protocols by embracing Chelsea team-mate Gilmour after Friday’s goalless draw.
They then continued the close contact down the tunnel.
Lions midfielder Declan Rice faces West Ham team-mates Tomas Soucek  and Vladimir Coufal at Wembley.
And Southgate admits opposing players at Euro 2020 have been hugging and talking to club pals.
Southgate explained: “You can see evidence at every match of these interactions.
“These sorts of things do serve as a reminder that we are under a  different sort of spotlight to most parts of the community.
“And we are at higher risk of being forced to miss matches or whatever else.”

England are set to discover today whether the duo will be allowed to link up with the team for the final Group D clash.
Chilwell was due to play at left-back and midfielder Mount was certain to play.
But 17-year-old rookie Jude Bellingham is now on standby to come into the team.
Although his team plans are in disarray,  Southgate said: “I’m  not angry or p***ed off really and certainly not with the players. Not with anybody.
“It’s just the fact of  the world we’re living in at the moment.
“We’ve always known we’re trying to be as  vigilant as possible — but there’s always an element of fortune about these situations as well.
“The protocols would be something to do with chatting after the game but I have no idea of all the detail.

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“That’s why we’ve taken the decision at this point to isolate them both.
“That’s why we are now  having to have the discussions with Public Health England.
“We don’t know exactly where everything sits on this one yet.
“Of course, it’s not ideal but we’ve always known this could happen.
“Every team in the tournament has been sort of living with this fear — and some have already had to deal with it.
“We’re the latest to have that disruption and we’ve just got to get on and deal with
“I’m not frustrated. I’m somebody who understands that, when you’re a manager, you can have a training session and you lose a player to injury the day before a game and you have to adapt.
“I’ve never been one to throw something at the physio when he’s come  in and told me that a centre-forward has done his ankle the day before the game.

“It’s not the doctor’s fault, it’s not the physio’s fault — that’s just the way it is. Who plays? Somebody else. We crack on.
“We’re not being overzealous in that we’ve got to follow the guidelines.
“We’ve got to make sure that if there is any risk with these two players, then we’ve got to make sure we don’t put any other players at risk.”
England clinched a last-16 spot thanks to results last night to ensure the Three Lions progress as a top third-placed team at the very least.
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But confusion remained last night over who told Mount and Chilwell to self-isolate.
Public Health England claim they had not advised the FA or SFA.
The guidelines for elite sport is that close contact constitutes within a metre for 15 minutes or more.
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