England manager Roy Hodgson is looking to defeat Germany when they visit Wembley stadium for a high profile friendly tonight. The former Liverpool boss insists he has never feared the Germans and does not intend to start now. The last meeting of the two sides ended in humiliation for England, who were drubbed 4-1 in Bloemfontein at the 2010 World Cup. Read more after the cut.
Fabio Capello’s team were completely outclassed that day, despite having a goal by Frank Lampard controversially disallowed, and the memory is still fresh in the minds of some of Hodgson’s squad. On top of that, Germany are currently ranked second in the world behind Spain, and have gone further than England in the last four major tournaments.
But Hodgson has such belief in his players that he named his team 24 hours before the game – and claims he has NEVER managed a side which felt intimidated by the opposition. That is quite a statement for a man who has taken charge of 16 different teams in eight countries, as well as four national teams. But he claims he has faced stiffer tests than the one in front of England tonight-including the first time he faced a side full of big-name GermansThat was in 1989 when he was in charge of Swedish minnows Malmo and led them to a famous victory over mighty Italian champions Inter Milan in the European Cup. That Inter team contained Germany stars Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus and Andreas Brehme, who all went on to win the World Cup a year later.
But Malmo were unshaken and emerged victorious after winning the first leg at home before drawing at the San Siro in one of Hodgson’s greatest achievements as a boss. It’s an example he wants his more inexperienced England players to follow tonight.
Hodgson said: “Will they be intimidated? No. I was lucky in that in my early career in Sweden, in what was the European Cup, we often faced teams with important players.
“When I was in charge of Malmo, Inter had the three Germans. These were household names – Matthaus had a bigger salary than Malmo’s whole budget.
“But it didn’t seem to have any effect on my players.
“They just wanted to go out and show what they can do. That set the tone for me.
“We had a young boy called Patrik Andersson, who was 18 years of age when he played against Klinsmann at the San Siro.
“If he can get out and do that, why should I expect my players now to be fearful of an opponent’s name? “We have great respect for Germany – and plenty of respect for ourselves. I would expect them to be equally as respectful.
“Germany have been moulded into quite a force in world football since the 2006 World Cup, but we will be doing our level best to send them home empty handed.”
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