England’s remaining rivals at the European Championship will consider them a “dangerous” side after they beat Germany 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals, captain Harry Kane said.
Kane and Raheem Sterling struck late goals in Tuesday’s last-16 match to guide England to their first knockout victory over Germany since the 1966 World Cup final.
Gareth Southgate’s side will next face Ukraine in Saturday’s quarterfinal clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
“Any team will look at us and know that we’re dangerous,” Kane said.
“There isn’t anything bigger than this when the expectation is on and we delivered, so we should be proud – but we can’t stop here.
“Hopefully we’ll be back here in the semifinals and the final.”
While the build-up to the match was dominated by talk of historic and bitter tournament losses to Germany, England’s focus will now be on making some history of their own.
The visitors’ defeat marked the end of Joachim Loew’s time as Germany coach after 15 years in charge, during which he guided them to the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil.
Defensive midfielder Declan Rice said critics had written off England but Tuesday’s victory had proved them wrong.
“It is history, all the players were asked about the past games but we created history,” Rice said.
“With a full house, everyone had the fire in the belly to one, knock Germany out, and two, progress in the tournament.”
(AFP)