Marcus Rashford has urged England to write their names into history by securing a famous victory over Germany in the last 16 of Euro 2020.
England have endured plenty of heartbreak against their old rivals in tournaments, but there is a belief within the camp that they will not be carrying any mental baggage when they face Joachim Löw’s side. Most of the squad are too young to remember their manager, Gareth Southgate, missing the decisive penalty in the Euro 96 semi-final against Germany and Rashford feels it is vital that they do not show any fear at Wembley on Tuesday.
“We are being put in a position where we are blessed to be part of that history,” the England striker 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.”
Jordan Henderson echoed Rashford’s call for England to show bravery. “We’ve got quite a young squad but that can be a positive thing,” the vice-captain said. “A lot of these lads just go out and play, enjoy the game, play with no fear. That’s what they need to do again.”
Rashford, who is unlikely to start against Germany, was restricted to three substitute appearances as England finished top of Group D. Injuries have prevented the Manchester United player from producing his best form recently and he revealed that he may have an operation to cure a shoulder problem after the tournament. “I’m not 100% sure if I need it yet,” he said. “I’ll just take it as it comes. I’ll finish strong here and I’ve got a few weeks off to relax and decide what I’m going to do.”
Rashford, who admitted that he was struggling with injuries after United’s defeat by Villarreal in the Europa League final last month, is unsure how long he would be out for if he has surgery. The procedure could see him miss the start of next season, potentially denting United’s hopes of establishing themselves as title challengers.
“The doctors have not said yet,” he said. “The reason I don’t know is that when the season was going, and before I came here, I knew there was no chance I was going to be getting the operation. I did not know how long the operation would put me out for. I never bothered to ask. When the tournament is finished I will ask.”
The 23-year-old was open about his indifferent form. “I am not performing at my best,” he said. “It has been going on since early on in the season. I managed to get through the season with United. I think I had 36 goal involvements so I can’t look back at the year and say: ‘Mmm, I should have taken time off to do this and do that.’ That’s just not the way I look at things. I just want to be available for every game.”
Rashford insisted that England were not scared of Germany, who struggled against Hungary in their last group game. “We know to win the tournament we are going to have to beat the best teams,” he said.
“We have to bring the best version of us. We want to win the ‘England Way’ – show some good football, work hard for each other and score and create goals.”
