Euro 2020 Round of 16, Knockout Stages - England vs Germany 2-0

 A battle between the fiercest of the rivals in football, England vs Germany at Wembley, giving England the crucial home support & advantage. After a treat of exhilarating two matches yesterday, this was poised to be a humdinger, where there are no clear favourites - its the team which soak the pressure on the day & make good of half chances are likely to end winners. However, the match did not reach great heights, as Germany mostly looked a spent force. After 75 minutes of predictable & cagey play, where both sides were seemingly wary of conceding first, England broke through & went onto win 2-0

The 1st half started with Germany getting the better of exchanges  & chances, but it was England who had at least two gilt edged chances go abegging, the best being when Harry Kane could not go past a brilliant last ditch sliding clearance by Mats Hummels, in the injury time. Sterling & Maguire too missed opportunities to put England ahead, as both teams head towards the tunnel at the break. 

2nd half started with Germany showing some purpose & controlled good possession, & their best chance came, when around the 50th minute of the game, Havertz collected a loose ball just outside the English box & let loose a wicked left footed piledriver which seemed to rocket into the top end of the net, but England keeper Pickford flew instinctively & tipped the ball over the bar, as the crowd gasped in relief. England grew in confidence from there on, showing more determination & zeal, as their opponents seem to strangely fade out. With around 20 minutes left in the game, both the coaches make interesting substitution in the game - Southgate brought in Jack Grealish for livewire Bukayo Saka, while Joachim Low took out Timo Werner to introduce Gnabry - both these changes prove decisive in the game ahead, as Grealish settled into the groove well to provide better cohesion, while Gnabry was a sad whimper, taking away the sting in attack that Werner was providing for the Germans till then. With 15 minutes left, Sterling powered past Rudiger to tap into Kane, who in turn pushed the ball to Grealish, who passed onto the overlapping Shaw, & the left wing back slammed a beauty across the face of the goal for Sterling to slide in a low right footer past German keeper Neuer into the net - a fabulous combination to score, that erupted the Wembley stadium in delirious celebrations. Raheem Sterling's third goal of the tournament, as England go  up 1-0. Almost immediately after that Sterling nearly went from hero to zero, as he needlessly lost possession & Havertz took the opportunity to beat the defenders & slot the ball to Thomas Muller, who dodging past an indecisive Stones, & with just goalkeeper Pickford to beat, pushes the ball inches past & out of the post - a golden, gilt edged chance to equalise wasted by the veteran, as Sterling looked the most relieved in the ground. The miss proved fatal, as minutes later, the shaky German defence lost the ball to Shaw, who controlled midfield & squared ahead to Grealish who moved ahead on the left flank with ease & crossed across the face of the goal, as England skipper Harry Kane lunged to head past a diving Neuer into the German goal, as Wembley broke into a riotous, rapturous roar. England up 2-0, progressing into the last eight with a memorable win over their fiercest rivals - The Three Lions had not defeated Die Mannschaft in a major tournament since 1996. Current coach, Southgate had missed the decisive penalty that day, to enable a German win - ghosts of which he eclipsed today !! They now await the winners of Sweden vs Ukraine in quarterfinals. 

Strangely, the Germans lacked the killer instinct, that has been their hallmark for years at crucial stages. Barring Havertz &Werner upfront & Hummels & Gosens in the back, the team lacked self belief, cohesion, & often looked jaded & out of sorts, barring few moments of individual brilliance. Interestingly, all the three teams, France, Portugal & Germany, - all potential & past Champions who qualified from the Group F, deemed as the Group of Death, have perished in the round of 16. Quirky twist of Fate, eh ???