The Liverpool midfielder believes that Sancho and Bellingham can give England additional insight about Germany ahead of their round-of-16 match.
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After securing their passage to the knockout stages, England are preparing to play one of the tournament’s heavyweights – Germany – in the round-of-16. The Three Lions topped their group with two narrow victories against Croatia and the Czech Republic on either side of a goalless draw against Scotland. One of the senior members in the squad, Jordan Henderson believes that Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham can provide England with additional insight on Germany as both these players are currently playing in the Bundesliga. Sancho and Bellingham are a vital part of Borussia Dortmund’s set-up and have faced some of Germany’s key players in the league regularly.
When asked if Sancho and Bellingham could help Southgate’s preparation this week, Henderson replied, “They will do, a lot of us know a lot them anyway because they have top-class players across the pitch. We will know them well, we’ll watch their games in the Euros. Jadon and Jude know them very well, they are both big players for us and I am sure they will be telling the lads one or two other things about them.”
In knockout fixtures, there is always the possibility of the match going to a penalty shootout. Speaking about their training methods, the Liverpool midfielder said, “We always practice penalties so nothing really changes again. That’s always the case in any tournament. It’s a special game, it’s always a special game.
“In recent years you look at the one with the ball over the line which wasn’t given, that was probably the standout game. It’s special for everyone, for the players, the fans and the neutrals watching. It’s exciting and everyone will be looking forward to it. We just have to stay focused and give everything on the pitch and have no regrets.”
After featuring for 45 minutes as a substitute in the 1-0 victory over Czech Republic in their final group match, Henderson says that he needs to be ready to be involved against the Germans if called upon. “It was very pleasing to get some minutes the other night,” he was quoted by skysports.com.
“I was very happy to get 45 minutes, I feel good and have felt good for a while. I didn’t play up until the friendly [against Romania] a few weeks ago. I’ve been training for a long time, I’ve been feeling good and training well. I just need to make sure I’m ready when called upon and can do a good job for the team.”
With Germany set to play England in a high-octane round-of-16 clash, Joachim Low is not “worried” about his team’s patchy form. Germany needed a late equaliser against Hungary to seal their knockout place on Wednesday. “I’m not worried, it’s a totally different match,” he said. “Hungary parked the bus, with everyone behind the ball, entered every duel, against England it will be a totally different match.
“They are playing at home, they want to attack, it’s going to be an open match, more open than it was tonight. We need to improve on things, we are aware of that, and need to take care and be careful, especially at set-pieces. We cannot repeat the same mistakes again. We need to do things better here, but ahead of the match against England, we’re looking forward to it. It’s great news to play in London at Wembley against England.”
