MAGUIRE: ‘WE’VE DONE NOTHING YET’
But it’s back to business on Saturday warns Harry
HARRY MAGUIRE could not contain his delight at England’s glorious victory over the old enemy.
But the central defender, so impressive at the back, was still quick to bring team-mates and supporters alike back down to earth by saying, come Saturday’s quarter-final, it is back to business.
Maguire, right, said: “Of course it gives us confidence going forward. I’m not going to play it down, it means everything to beat them.
“We know Germany are a good team with excellent players and a great style of play.
“We knew the pressure of coming out at Wembley against Germany, we knew we had to win the game and we did it with a great performance, a controlled performance.
“It was a magnificent victory and a big celebration in the end. It’s a magnificent night for everyone who follows this country at football.
“We have put a smile on a lot of people’s faces and that’s what we do, that’s why we play football. We try to entertain and make people happy and smile but, come Saturday, it is business again. We’ve done nothing yet.
“We can take momentum from the controlled performance but we need to improve come Saturday and we will work hard to do that.
“Before the game you could hear people saying about the run and the side of the draw — the side of the draw means absolutely nothing.
“You’ve seen before that if you don’t play to a level you are capable of you will get punished, because every team still in the tournament at this stage is an excellent team and have quality players, a great structure.
“So we’re fully focused on ourselves and don’t get carried away. “If we don’t perform in the next round, we will lose the football match. “If we play at the level we know we are capable of we will give ourselves the best opportunity of winning the football match.”
There were heroes all over the pitch for England and Raheem Sterling, who scored the first goal, hailed Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips.
Sterling, who now has three goals in four matches, said: “The two boys in midfield, they were class.
“They ate up ground and they were just animals in there. All around, it was a great team performance.”
Rice added: “In the press conferences this week, all the players have been asked about the previous games against Germany but today we created our own bit of history.
“Everyone had that fire in their belly to go out there and, one, knock Germany out the tournament and, two, progress to the next round.”
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has now kept four clean sheets – only the second time England have done this in a major tournament, the first being 1966.
Pickford said: “We’ve had the opportunity to play four games at Wembley and the atmosphere of 45,000 fans was amazing.
“That just gives us the desire on Saturday, it is another opportunity to come back to Wembley [in the semi-final].”