After
Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Slovenia,
this morning's papers are now focussed on the task ahead - beating the old
enemy Germany
in the last 16 on Sunday.
It was all
doom and gloom just over 24 hours ago as England,
still reeling for the turgid 0-0 draw with Algeria,
were faced with an early exit in South Africa.
Now the
Three Lions are world beaters and Wayne Rooney, who limped off with an ankle
injury after 72 minutes, has already struck the fear of God in Germany
coach Joachim Löw.
"Rooney
really scares us, say Germany"
- or so says The Times.
"Rooney has
not been the big gun so far in the tournament, but he is always ready to
explode," said Löw, despite Rooney not scoring in an England shirt since September 2009.
The
Telegraph will leave Löw with nightmares for the next three nights with their
headline, "Rooney expected to be fit for Germany".
The England
doctors are hopeful the Manchester United hit man, who has been plagued with an
ankle injury this year, will be fit for the clash - but will make another
assessment at the training camp near Rustenburg today.
Several
newspapers report that boss Fabio Capello relaxed his strict boot camp rules on
Tuesday night by offering the players a beer - The Daily Mirror leads with
"Beer we go! Fabio allowed players to drink before Slovenia game".
The Sun,
newly optimistic and featuring an interview with a buoyed Frank Lampard, proudly
roars: "We can go on and beat the lot".
While the Daily Star, diplomatic as ever, leads with "Job done..now for the Hun".
England played with renewed vigour to dispatch of Slovenia and The Daily Telegraph also reports: "Everyone
will fear England's
passion and pace, says Frank Lampard".
But Lampard
also reveals the players turned down Capello's offer of a beer - who's telling
the truth?
Mesut Ozil
has been the star for Germany
thus far, firing Löw's troops to a 1-0 victory over Ghana last night, and the Werder
Bremen playmaker is more upbeat than his coach.
"Prepare
for more pain: Ozil and Germany
plot further World Cup misery for England", warns the Daily
Mail.
"It's going to be
really difficult against England.
They are clearly stronger than Ghana
and they will give us a harder game," said Ozil.
"But we are extremely
strong and if we can play with our strongest team then I'm sure that we will
win this match."
The same paper has shown a swift turnaround on previously under-fire Capello, leading on the front page with "We're all smiling with you, Fabio" beneath a picture of the beaming Italian.
Ozil is not a man short of
confidence and Germany's
BILD newspaper leads with "Mesut Ozil: I knew that I would score!"
Marca says Spain's "three wizards", Andrés Iniesta,
Fernando Torres and David Villa can fire the European champions to victory over
Chile
in their final Group H fixture.
Finally, Gazetta
Dello Sport reads: "Italian brothers", with Marcello Lippi set to play 3-4-3
against Slovakia
as hard man Gennaro Gattuso prepares to start the must-win match.