England have dumped Germany out of the Euros as Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane score in a glorious 2-0 Wembley triumph that could see Gareth Southgate’s men marching all the way to the final.
Manchester City’s Sterling first slot the ball home during England’s titanic clash with its old rival. Moments later, England captain Kane headed the ball into the goal, giving England a 2-0 advantage against Germany captain Manuel Neuer’s side.
Waves of rapturous applause filled Wembley stadium at the goals which broke a 0-0 first half deadlock – with 45,000 fans gathered to watch in person.
While the figure is still just over half of its normal 90,000 capacity, it marks the biggest crowd at an event seen since the pandemic began last year.
Among the spectators were avid football fan Prince William, his wife Kate and their son Prince George, who sat in a box along with football legend David Beckham and pop star Ed Sheeran.
The group watched as 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 Gareth’s 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.
Earlier, Neuer’s team joined England players in taking the knee before today’s 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 are wearing rainbow armbands in support of Pride month during tonight’s showdown.
Mail Online