David James insists England will go out to beat Germany in
90 minutes as they attempt to dodge more penalty misery.
The old enemies go head-to-head in the second round of the
World Cup on Sunday, with England fans fearing another
shootout.
The Germans possess an awesome reputation on penalties and
England have suffered two doses of spot-kick hell against their
rivals - in the 1990 World Cup and at Euro 96.
On the fence: James insists England are looking to
win in 90 minutes - but they'll be ready for penalties
Fabio's No 1: James faces the media today
'The intention for us is to win the game in 90 minutes,'
he said. 'If it requires extra time and then if it goes to
penalties, there's an opportunity for Germany to miss so we're
ready.
'Germany are a decent outfit but we've got the confidence
of having gone to Berlin a couple of years ago and beaten them
2-1.'
James said that England would 'do their homework' on
German penalty taking, as they had done for the group
games.
'We've had videos on the three sides we've played
already,' he said. 'I was hoping Slovenia might have had a penalty
in the last minute and I'd get a chance to save it.'
James was between the sticks when Portugal beat England in
a quarter-final shoot-out at the European Championship six years
ago, but he intends to be better prepared this time
around.
'The key issue we have is the homework,' he stressed. 'In
Euro 2004, when we played Portugal, we didn't have the access to
the information that perhaps we should have done with regards to
likely takers.
Spot of bother: James concedes the winner taken by
Portugal keeper Ricardo in the Euro 2004 quarter-final
'Realistically in a shoot-out you're going to
face at least five outfield players and we'll do our homework on as
many as possible. That will be done, but we're not
going into the match with the intention of winning on
penalties.'
However, he joked that he and fellow goalkeepers Robert
Green and Joe Hart couldn't stop too many spot-kicks in training
for fear of crushing the confidence of their outfield
team-mates.
'It's a bit difficult for the keepers because if we save
too many, it doesn't give our strikers confidence,' he said. 'So
it's a bit more difficult for us.'
James says there must be no regrets about missing out on
top spot in Group C, which would have set up a last 16 tie with
Ghana and a potentially easier route to the final. Victory on
Sunday is likely to lead to a quarter-final with Argentina, while a
bigger win against Slovenia would make South Korea or Uruguay their
last eight opponents.
It's in my hands: David James is counting down to
the clash with Germany
In fact, the bullish 39-year-old insists he is thrilled to
have set up a 'romantic' tie against a side who have been rivals on
and off the pitch for so long.
'I'm delighted for England as a nation that we've got a
chance to play Germany,' he said. 'It gives everyone at home the
opportunity to enjoy a great football match and what will hopefully
be a good win against Germany.
'If you look at the potential road to the final, the idea
of beating Germany is romantic - and it's an achievable goal,' he
said. 'And it will bring on another match which will have its own
historical significance.'
Practice makes perfect: Green saves in training as
James and Joe Hart look on
However, he insisted that the players would not get swept
up in the occasion and suffer the detrimental
consequences.
'It's another football match,' he said. 'Obviously
there'll be a lot of external references and whatever else,
historical references. But for us it's a game against a decent
outfit - one we have to win to progress.
'Our preparation is for a squad of 23 players and whatever
they've got to offer in strengths and weaknesses.
'We can't do anything about what happened (in the group
stage). 'We look back at the America game and the performance of
Tim Howard which prevented a win.
'Algeria are very difficult to score against, and then we
did what we needed to against Slovenia on Wednesday.'
Flashback: Stuart Pearce misses in the shootout
against West Germany in the 1990 World Cup semi-final
James started between the posts against Algeria and
Slovenia after Robert Green's howler gifted Clint Dempsey an
equaliser for America in the opener, and the England No 1 is
pleased to have finally grasped his chance at his third World
Cup.
'When the squad was announced and the numbers issued it
was more of numerical thing than a suggestion of the first XI,'
said the oldest player at the finals.
'True to Mr Capello's previous selection process, he must
have gauged something in training and felt Robert was the right
goalkeeper to start with. I'm happy with that.
'I'm part of a squad. This World Cup isn't about David
James - it's about England being successful. I trained as well as I
could, got the chance to go back in and I'm happy.'