Joachim Low has warned England to expect a different Germany when the two nations face off at Wembley in the last-16 of Euro 2020.
England qualified for the knockout stages as winners of Group D on Tuesday night, and knew they would face the runners-up of Group F, which concluded in dramatic fashion on Wednesday evening.
Germany had put themselves in with a strong chance of progress despite losing their opening game of the tournament 1-0 to France, with a 4-2 comeback win over Portugal leaving them odds-on to qualify.
Hungary, however, hadn’t got the message as Adam Szalai’s early header had given them a flying start in Munich.
Germany got back on track but with Kai Havertz’s second-half equaliser, but Andras Schafer headed the underdogs back in front seconds after the restart.
With time ticking away, Leon Goretzka’s deflected goal salvaged a 2-2 draw for Germany to take them through to a last-16 knockout tie against England on Tuesday - a repeat of the Euro 96’ semi-final, whihc the Germans won in a heartbreaking penalty shootout for the Three Lions.
Germany won the 2014 World Cup but are going through a new cycle, with coach Low to step down after the tournament.
Despite the prospect of facing a miserly England side who have yet to concede at the tournament, Low says his team are ready for a memorable match - and has warned Gareth Southgate that his side will step things up after a haphazard group stage.
“We made mistakes but we fought, showed character,” said Low. “It was not for the faint-hearted. At the end to come through this group was good and that was the aim.
“What matters is that we are through. Now we play with England and we can look forward to that match.
“It is an absolute highlight to play at Wembley against England.
“We will be a different team than tonight, I can promise you that.”
Additional reprting by Reuters.
