Preview: Germany – England

(GSM) – The rich history of clashes between the German and English national football teams is about to get another chapter as the two sides face again for Sunday’s World Cup round of sixteen encounter.

Germany survived a shaky group phase. After crushing Australia 4-0, Joachim Löw’s men suffered a surprise 0-1 defeat by Serbia. But in the final game, a goal from Mesut Özil led the Germans to victory over Ghana and a spot in the next round.

The ‘Mannschaft’ do have some injury worries as Jerome Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Cacau are all unavailable, although the latter was always going to make place for Miroslav Klose who returns from suspension.

Özil, Philipp Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira and Thomas Müller were all booked in the group phase and would miss a potential quarter final should they get yellow-carded against England.

Fabio Capello had to endure some serious suffering with his English team in the group phase as the ‘Three Lions’ drew 1-1 with the United States and 0-0 with Algeria before finally beating Slovenia 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Jermain Defoe.

England are still without Ledley King but don’t have any other injury cases to worry about at this point.

Steven Gerrard, James Milner and Glen Johnson are all at risk of being banned for the quarter finals and will need to avoid getting booked this Sunday. Jamie Carragher returns from suspension after his yellow cards in the two first group games.

The most famous England – Germany clash is of course the 1966 World Cup final – won by hosts England, but there have been several more high-profile encounters in recent years. The two titans last met in competition in 2002 World Cup qualifying. Germany first won 0-1 in England but were then humiliated 1-5 at home several months later.

The most recent meeting was in November 2008 when England beat the Germans 1-2 in a friendly.

History will be forgotten as the two teams face off again at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 16:00 (4pm) local time. The referee appointed is Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda.