European Championship U21 - Pearce: Guts will win the game

Eurosport - Sun, 28 Jun 09:32:00 2009

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce is relishing his first international final and has urged his youngsters to show "guts" against old adversaries Germany in Monday's climactic match.

2009 England U21 Stuart Pearce - 0

After beating hosts Sweden on penalties, Pearce's side will be European champions if they beat their traditional rivals in Malmo.

Pearce has history against the Germans, losing to them on penalties at the 1990 World Cup and 1996 European Championships as a player, so knows what will be needed for victory.

"The team who has the most guts, takes their chances when they come and maybe have enough fit players will win the game," Pearce said. "It's a fantastic final.

He added: "It's the furthest I've been in international football as a player or a manager so it's a step in the right direction. We need to win one more match and one team stands in our way.

"We have to play better than against Sweden but also have to show the same character as they do time and again."

Pearce barely celebrated on Friday evening in Gothenburg when Guillermo Molins hit the post and England won the shoot-out.

It is the type of reaction he saw from two German players 19 years ago in Turin while he and Peter Shilton were taking a routine drugs test. Pearce had missed a spot-kick as England crashed out but there was no celebration or gloating from his opponents.

"I feel there is one more match in this tournament," Pearce said. "Then maybe I'll let my hair down a touch. We've come to win it. It was a semi-final, that's all it was.

"When the penalty hit the post everything else was irrelevant and only Monday was important."

PA Sport / Eurosport

Comment 45 - 64 of 64

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  1. HEY PEOPLE!! LISTEN TO ME!!!!
    we are speaking about a­ stupid football match!! not other!!
    what war and stuff­ like that that!!
    you joking!!
    sport it's not war! i­ love soccer but when we start to speak in this way! i­ hate!!
    W SPORT!!

    From , on Mon 29 Jun 12:32PM

  2. inverki bla blah u reaaly think germany won the war­ "REALLY"!! god the education system in­ germany must be bad if thats what they are teaching­ kids ha we KILLED you KILLED!! you you had no chance in­ war your country sucks =]

    From Baby K, on Mon 29 Jun 11:32AM

  3. It's great being from the most hated country in the­ world. If it wasn't for the English most of you­ would still be living in mudhuts and smearing dog poo­ on open wounds. The reason most of you hate England­ fans is because we actually believe we will win it is­ called supporting your team. The rest of you get sore­ feet jumping on and off your respective national­ bandwagons. ENGLAND WILL WIN

    From rumteetum, on Mon 29 Jun 4:53AM

  4. All you donkeys who are abusing England. Get a life,­ it's about here and now..not the past. We are­ comfortably the best team in the competition, anyone­ with a footballing brain can see that. We will beat­ Germany, absolutely no doubt whatsoever. Let's see­ the abusers comment after that.

    From Tony R, on Sun 28 Jun 11:47PM

  5. hope germany hammer england,
    always most over hyped­­ team in every competition , most arrogant supporters­­ who think england have tradition cos they won A world­­ cup 53years ago,
    guarantee for months before next­­ world cup they'll be sayin they're gonna win­­ and limp out in the quater finals as usual......

    From guinnessman, on Sun 28 Jun 6:32PM

  6. marnio from peru:

    your dad works on a farm

    From chris c, on Sun 28 Jun 12:45PM

  7. thetwotoedsloth your opinion doesnt bother me in the­ slightest. And as for wot Ive bin smokin its none of­ your business and everyones entiled to their opinon n­ do you actually come from a nation thats successful in­ sport?

    From Andrew, on Sun 28 Jun 11:12AM

  8. NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT SPAIN!!GREAT TEAM!! BUT IT'S­ JUST BORN!!

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 10:50AM

  9. I REPEAT!! I"M SPEAKING ABOUT UNDER 21!! JUST­ ABOUT THIS COMPETITION!

    I RESPECT GERMAY GREAT TEAM IN­ THE HISTORY BUT ENGLAND AND ITALY ALSO!!!
    THEY ARE THE­ FOOTBALL!!!! WITH BRASIL OBVIOUSLY!!

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 10:42AM

  10. TO ANDREW SMITH
    THEY ARE NOT THE BEST TOURNAMENT'S­ TEAMS ANYWAY!!
    MAYBE ENGLAND BUT NOT GERMANY!!
    DID YOU­ WATCHED ITALY GERMANY???
    PLEASE!! BE HONEST

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 10:26AM

  11. i forgot!!
    more respect for England!! they invent the­ football and always showed good football!! 1 WORLD­ CUP
    ENGLAND FOREVER!!!!!

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 10:22AM

  12. It doesn't matter what anyone says about the past­ as it is the here and now that counts England vs­ Germany and the winner triumphs on Monday is all that­ counts, the fact England and Germany got to the final­ means the 2 best teams of the tournament are there­ because of that FACT, despite the pretty football of­ other countries they are not there so they were not­ best team as they lost period. Also what the hell has­ Englands population got to do with wether we win or not­ some comments on here are more than adsurd!?

    From ANDREW SMITH, on Sun 28 Jun 10:19AM

  13. marnioperu'
    first of all wash your hands when you­ type about Italy 4 WORLD CUP
    ah ah ah ah!! you make me­ laugh!!
    i'm speaking about Italy under 21 not­ Lippi's Italy!!

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 10:15AM

  14. in the my opinion
    italy the boring defensive team with­ the no advenure. they not good for the football. they­ make you sleep when you watch them. just talking about­ them make you yawn. they should stick to make ice­ cream.
    the spain not the bad team now. they have best­ players but sometimes they get the too nervous and­ lose.
    the england the joke team. they say they will win­ everything but win nothing. this because they play like­ the woman. the england have the sense of humour, and­ with their team and country they need it.
    the german­ very successful team, very strong, very the reliable,­ proud team. very the efficent and clever. to beat them­ you need to be the alert for every second of the game­ and play very well or they punish you. the reason­ england always lose to germany is because the england­ team fall the sleep every game for the 15­ minutes.
    germany and spain best teams at the moment.­ england the rubbish and italy.

    From marnio from peru, on Sun 28 Jun 10:00AM

  15. That is all nice BUT there is more to football than­ that . Football is ALSO about technique , talent and­ creativity !!

    From Tim, on Sun 28 Jun 9:55AM

  16. MY OPINION
    ITALY THE BEST TEAM I SAW IN THIS­ COMPETITION ! GOOD FOOTBALL BUT VERY UNLUCKY
    SPAIN­ GOOD TEAM AND UNLUCKY
    ENGLAND NOT TOO BAD
    GERMANY­ VERY LUCKY
    SERBIA better than germany but out
    BELARUS,­ better than germany but out
    SWEDEN
    FINLAND

    From , on Sun 28 Jun 9:28AM

  17. go GERMANY

    From Hamzeh O, on Sun 28 Jun 9:19AM

  18. Comment 50.....two world wars and one world cup mean­ anything.......F**king Kra*t

    From Graham C, on Sun 28 Jun 8:36AM

  19. Get real, England will lose. Any strategy which relies­ on guts as its key component will fail against ze­ Germans. I sure as hell hope that Pearce has more than­ that up his sleeve but seriously doubt that he has.­ When will we learn that football management requires a­ cool professional approach to the game and that guts ­ passion etc come after you get the fundamentals like­ fitness, skill, technique, tactics right. Might not­ make for good headlines but would make for better­ results! Cross my fingers for us but won't get my­ hopes up.

    From Leon E, on Sun 28 Jun 8:36AM

  20. @Badger:
    Sure german football is done since 2001 done.­ Being 2nd in WC2002, 3rd in WC2006 and 2nd in EC2008­ clearly shows that. Oh wait, when did England­ reach.....ehmm lets say.....atleast the Semifinal in a­ tournament? 1996? Then then nothing anymore? :P

    That­ so typically english national team and fans. They thing­ that germans are scared of the english national team,­ although the english team always chokes and sucks when­ it matters.
    No sir, we germans aint having­ "fear" of the english national team, we think­ it's funny that you won so less in all those years,­ even when their own fans say before every tournament­ that "this time" they really gonna win­ anything.

    Oh btw, guess who's current U17 and U19­ european champions? And guess whois current women world­ champions and women U17 EC? Aye, zee germans. So much­ for "the german football is done". Pathetic­ comment.

    @ DAVE:
    Fear? lmao, why? The english national­ teams always chokes when it matter, so there is no need­ to have fear.
    The real nemesis for us german fans are­ Italy. This rivalry is much more important for us than­ the one against England. Atleast Italy knows how to win­ a thing :P
    Hell we've even a bigger rivalry agaisnt­ the Netherlands than against you.

    From bartsonbart, on Sun 28 Jun 7:21AM
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