England prepare for Saturday quarter final against Ukraine

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Prince William and Kate hailed England’s ‘incredible performance’ as lucky royal mascot Prince George saw the Three Lions crush Germany 2-0 at his first international football match.

Gareth Southgate’s squad are now preparing to take on Ukraine in the Euro 2020 quarter-final in Rome on Saturday – after an estimated 25 million fans across Britain watched Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane clinch the win in Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night. 

Last night’s match marked England’s first major victory over Germany since the 1966 World Cup final, ending 55 years of heartache for the Three Lions.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George joined 45,000 jubilant fans at Wembley Stadium to watch manager Southgate’s fine-tuned side run rings around German captain Manuel Neuer’s team in a superb display of resilience and perseverance.

After the match, the couple took to their official Twitter account to praise England’s ‘incredible performance’.

The England squad will now head to Rome to play Ukraine after the foreign team narrowly beat Sweden 1-0 in the last minute of extra time. The team and their coaches are exempt from a five-day quarantine, but other UK arrivals are not. 

Waves of rapturous applause filled Wembley Stadium as Manchester City’s Sterling first slotted the ball home, breaking a 0-0 first-half deadlock. Kane swiftly followed up with a neat header – sending his thrilled teammates piling on their captain in celebration as chants of ‘it’s coming home’ filled the stadium.

Young Prince George was seen watching the match close to his avid football fan father Prince William, with the pair wearing matching suits and England ties. The Duke of Cambridge dotingly explained every twist and turn of the nail-biting match to his son – who is named after the patron saint of England – as they beamed from their box.

Football Association president William threw his fists into the air as his wife Kate clapped demurely when the final whistle blew. 

In fan zones across the country – including in Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and London – overjoyed supporters were seen screaming as they celebrated.  

While the number of fans at Wembley on Tuesday night was still just over half of its normal 90,000 capacity, it marked the biggest crowd at an event seen since the pandemic began last year. 

The last time England beat out the Germans in the knockout phase of a major football tournament was when Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup in 1966. 

The match kicked off to a nail-biting start, with West Ham player Declan Rice handed a yellow card in the first ten minutes.

And, just seconds before the half time whistle was blown, England captain Harry Kane had the ball robbed from him with the Germany goal wide open after a brilliant run by Raheem Sterling. 

The second half saw Germany step up their play, but they still proved no match for Southgate’s side – with a fantastic save by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from Chelsea’s Kai Havertz. 

The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers when fan-favourite Jack Grealish replaced Bukayo Saka in the 68th minute, in a moved hoped to spark England’s side into their first goal. 

And the move proved a huge success. Kane came to life as he found Grealish who fed Luke Shaw on the left. His low ball into the box was slotted home by Sterling.  

England midfielder Declan Rice added: ‘It’s incredible. It is history. All the players were asked about the past games, but we created history.’ It took 74 minutes for Sterling to score the first goal and send the country into rapture.

As Germany pressed for an equaliser and fans’ nerves began fraying, captain Kane headed England into a 2-0 lead with five minutes to start pandemonium in the stands.

Summing up the mood of the nation, BBC commentator Guy Mowbray said: ‘All around this famous stadium, it is fevered, frenzied excitement. This is one of the landmark football moments that don’t come around too often.’

At the final whistle, the England players hugged each other as the significance of what they had achieved began to sink in.

After the match, 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. We have a vision of where we want to go and we can’t stop now. Hopefully we’ll be back here in the semi-finals and the final.’ 

Grealish took to Twitter to react after his team won. He wrote:  ‘England 2-0 Germany! What a day. Fans were UNBELIEVABLE.’ 

As jubilant fans celebrated – with thousands pouring out onto the streets in Three Lions jerseys – roads were left eerily deserted.

Millions tuned in to watch the highly anticipated game, with pubs and bars packed out with fans who stayed on to celebrate. 

After the match, England boss Southgate revealed he had told the players after the game that he must be the ‘party-pooper’.

The win is a personal triumph for Southgate, whose missed penalty in the semi-final of Euro 96 – also at Wembley – sent the Germans through. 

‘It’s a brilliant afternoon,’ Southgate told BBC Sport. ‘We talked about bringing enjoyment to the nation really and afternoons like this are what that’s about.

‘The players were absolutely immense, right the way through the team and the fans were as well. Only 40,000, but it’s as good an atmosphere as I can remember at Wembley.

‘We played extremely well. I think we deserved the win, but I’ve had to say to them (the players) straight away, look, ‘I’m the party-pooper because if we don’t capitalise on that on Saturday now, then it doesn’t count for anything’.’

Southgate was full of praise for both his goalscorers Sterling and Kane.

‘Raheem, well they both have to constantly, has to prove people wrong all the time and Raheem has been immense for us over three, four years,’ Southgate said told the BBC.

‘He knows we’ve got faith in him, we’ve got that trust in him and his performances have been electric, right from the start.

‘For Harry it was a really important moment I think. When you’re a centre-forward it doesn’t matter what else you’re doing in the game, you need those goals and I was pleased to see the second one go in I have to say.’

Southgate was asked if his side’s win helped ease the memory of his penalty shoot-out miss in 1996.

The former England defender said: ‘I’m just so pleased. I was looking at the big screen and I saw David Seaman up there, the teammates that played with me, I can’t change that, so that’s always going to hurt.

‘But what’s lovely is we’ve given people another day to remember and now we’ve got to go and do it in Rome.’

Following the win, celebrities shared their delight on social media.

Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘My God … it really might be coming home.’

The former Good Morning Britain host also shared a picture from Gareth Southgate’s penalty miss at Euro 96 at Wembley against Germany and contrasted it to a joyous snap of the England manager from Tuesday’s match.

‘Redemption,’ he wrote.

David Baddiel and Frank Skinner – who famously sang England anthem Three Lions – were also at Wembley and belted out the song alongside the other joyous supporters.

After the game, Baddiel shared a beaming picture alongside Olympic hero Mo Farah and wrote: ‘Might be coming home a bit faster with this lovely fellow on hand.’

A tweet from Ant and Dec’s official account read: ‘This … is … AMAZING!!! A.’

Former England captain Wayne Rooney wrote on Instagram: ‘Get in. Come on @england. Well done lads.’

Former Spice Girl Geri Horner said: ‘Come on England! Well done.’

Comedian John Bishop tweeted: ‘Well that was satisfying … ‘

Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared a picture showing him celebrating Kane’s decisive goal.

He wrote: ‘Well done England! We’re all behind you – bring it home!’

Meanwhile, fans also shared their joy at England’s triumph. Anthony Robinson, 34 – who lives in London and works in finance – watched the match with his mother Sue Bedding, 59, at the fan zone in Trafalgar Square.

Ms Bedding, an NHS worker, said she had come down from her home city of Nottingham so she could watch the match with her son.

Mr Robinson said: ‘I feel ecstatic. You’ve got to be optimistic about things like this. In the first 15 to 20 minutes it didn’t look like anything was going to happen, but the second half was brilliant.

‘The atmosphere here was crazy. We’re definitely pleased we came here to watch it. We were going to go to a pub to watch it but just thought, if England win it, to be here to watch it in Trafalgar Square is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s the next best thing to going to Wembley.

‘The fact that we managed to win it in 90 minutes too and didn’t have to go to penalties is incredible.’

Ms Bedding said: ‘I’m made up, it’s been an absolutely brilliant night. I remember the ’96 match and I was completely gutted when we lost. So now I’m quite optimistic for the rest of the Euros.’

Following the Germany result, bookmakers Coral made England 2-1 favourites to win the tournament, cutting the Three Lions from 9-2. 

Earlier, Neuer’s team joined England players in taking the knee before the fixture in a stand against racism.

The protest act has been mired in controversy throughout the tournament, with the FA fearing unhappy crowds would boo players. But any discontent from spectators was drowned out by loud cheering from both sides.

But the teams’ national anthems were a different story, with boos ringing out from the England-heavy crowd as Germany’s anthem played.

Both England captain Kane and his German counterpart Neuer wore rainbow armbands in support of Pride month during the showdown.

While West Ham player Declan Rice was given a yellow card in the first ten minutes, Sterling – who lived a stones-throw from Wembley Stadium for five years as a child – quickly raised England fans’ hopes with an early long-range shot that tested German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.  

Hopes soared even further as Germany’s Matthias Ginter was booked for bringing down Luke Shaw on the German right flank.

But as the match approached the 30 minute mark, Harry Maguire missed a straightforward header, sending pulses racing in the iconic stadium. And Pickford was forced to act quickly to stop an effort by Chelsea’s Timo Werner.

Jack Grealish was been dropped in favour of Kieran Trippier in the only major change by England boss Southgate ahead of the game. 

Germany meanwhile made three alterations, with Chelsea’s Timo Werner restored along with Leon Goretzka and Thomas Muller as Ilkay Gundogan, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane drop out of the side that drew 2-2 with Hungary. 

The Three Lions have been pragmatic but somewhat underwhelming en route to the knockout stages, claiming two wins and a draw from their three Group D encounters without conceding a goal.

They now renew their long-standing rivalry with Germany, who squeezed through Group F – or the ‘group of death’ – to set up the eagerly-anticipated fixture.  

Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer both urged employers to let their staff finish work early to watch the contest as football fans piled into pubs and thousands of supporters descended on Wembley and let off flares. 

Around 45,000 fans were allowed into Wembley to watch Southgate’s squad battle the Germans for a place in the quarter-finals from 5pm, while millions more headed to their local – with some even hitting the boozers from as early as 7am this morning.

Three people were arrested at Wembley Stadium during Tuesday’s match. Met Police confirmed one male was arrested for racially aggravated common assault, and two males were detained for fraud by false representation. 

The Prime Minister and Labour leader both called on bosses to let their staff finish early amid fears some will be stuck in the office at kick-off. 

Ahead of the match, Chancellor Rishi Sunak shared a photo of himself pulling on an England jersey with the caption: ‘Bring it on.’ 

With just over an hour to kick off Wembley Way was a riot of colour with flag waving fans patiently queuing to take their seats.

Long queues stretched from the entrances to the stadium as fans had to show proof of vaccination or a negative lateral flow tests. Fans had been told to leave extra time to get into the ground to avoid missing the 5pm kick off. 

Excitable fans let off red and white flares as they massed outside the stadium. With no alcohol allowed to be brought inside the stadium, thousands stood in Wembley Way drinking from cans and soaking up the atmosphere.

Two German supporters draped in their national flag were ignored as the fans were more interested in singing terrace songs, some referencing the war. But when a larger group walked past waving a black, yellow and red flag they were met boos and showered with beer prompting police to escort them to the ground.

An inflatable Spitfire was tossed among the crowd with one fan climbing up a tree to lead the chants. 

The match is one of the most anticipated in recent memory, with fan parks sold out and more than five million pints expected to be bought. Supporters got into the swing of things early this morning with a beer garden in Sheffield filled with fans clutching pints and wearing England shirts at 7am. 

Meanwhile the Kirby housing estate in London was also draped in dozens of England flags ahead of the game, in scenes mirrored across the nation.  

Others took to social media to reveal they will be taking a sick day to ensure they can watch the match, with some lucky supporters revealing they will even be allowed to finish early by sympathetic bosses – meaning they will join around 22 million English fans set to tune in.  

And one fan keen to join in on the fun wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ve got a stomach ache on the morning that England face Germany. I think my boss would kill me if I phoned in sick today! But I’m feeling [sick]. Damnit! Come on England!’  

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Johnson hopes to watch as much of the England v Germany match as possible ‘in between his work commitments’ and is sending Southgate’s squad ‘the best of luck ahead of this afternoon’s game’. 

The spokesman added that ‘whenever possible we would want businesses and employers to make accommodations for people to be able to watch the match, if they are happy to do so’.

‘It’s for employers and managers, they are best placed to make those decisions on a case-by-case basis,’ the spokesman said. ‘The Prime Minister himself is hoping to see as much of the game as possible in between his work commitments.’

Sir Keir tweeted: ‘Good luck to @England ahead of today’s game against Germany. Staff should be allowed to finish early so they can watch the match.’