No pressure for Three Lions over past Germany defeat-Rashford

Marcus Rashford says the England squad is not distracted by disappointments of the past and fully focused on making history of their own against Germany.

Anticipation is already building ahead of Tuesday’s Euro 2020 last-16 tie, with more than 40,000 due at Wembley as the Three Lions look to keep hopes alive of this being a summer to remember.

Standing in their way are a side with a history of breaking English hearts, from the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96 semi-finals to the 2010 World Cup round of 16.

Current England boss Gareth Southgate missed a decisive penalty when England lost to Germany at Euro 96

The Frank Lampard ghost goal in Bloemfontein is Rashford’s first memory of England matches against Germany, which goes some way to explaining why this group is not dealing with any baggage from previous meetings.

“We are being put in a position where we are blessed to be part of that history,” the 23-year-old forward said.

“Our main focus is to win the game, but if we do it gets put in history. That’s how great teams are remembered for many, many years.

“There is no point fearing the past. You can’t go back and change it.

“What we can change is the result of the next game and put ourselves in the best possible position to win the game.”

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While next week’s match will bring a sense of dread to some onlookers, Rashford made the point that “some of the players weren’t even born” when some of the previous galling losses to Germany took place.

The Manchester United striker will be hoping to get a chance to do that from the start on Tuesday, having come off the bench in all three Group D games hot on the heels of an injury-impacted season.