England 2-0 Germany: Southgate's Lions roar into the quarter-finals

England fans were left jumping for joy as Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane fired Gareth Southgate's side into the Euro 2020 quarter-finals — by dumping out old rivals Germany.

Roared on by a partisan crowd of 40,000 at Wembley, Sterling broke the deadlock in the 75th minute to take his tally at the tournament to three. 

And Three Lions skipper Kane finally opened his account four minutes from time with a close-range header to add a touch of gloss to the scoreline. 

Manchester City star Sterling, 26, said: "We knew we needed to put a big performance in against a good side and we did that. 

"Doing it for your country will always be special and it is a special moment for me. 

"I celebrated and for half a second I thought, 'Don't let it be offside'. Really happy it went in and we got the win. 

"We know the intensity we can play at and not a lot of teams can deal with it. The two players in midfield, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips, ate up the grass and were animals in there. 

"We take it game by game, recover and focus for the next one."

Shear joy

Former England striker Alan Shearer was at the national stadium to watch the drama unfold as Southgate's troops booked a showdown with Ukraine in the last eight. 

And he could not hide his delight after the match. The BBC pundit, 50, said: "What an occasion. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. 

"Well done to the England players, well done to Southgate because he had a plan before the game. 

"Plenty of impatient people in this stadium were shouting for more forward players on the pitch but he had his game plan. He put Jack Grealish on at the right time.

"They got a little bit of luck when they needed it at 1-0 when Thomas Muller went through — you'd expect him to score there. 

"It was a very dominant performance and they did what they had to."

Ex-England midfielder Jermaine Jenas, who called the action from the Beeb's commentary box, added: "You know what, you've got to be really proud of the players. 

"It's a huge, huge moment for Southgate. The players have to go out there and deliver in such a pressurised situation. 

"They put a game plan together and stuck to it. To a man, they were absolutely brilliant."

Rio grand

Rio Ferdinand, who won 81 caps for the Three Lions, echoed the sentiments of Shearer and Jenas. 

The former Manchester United centre-back, 42, said: "We hadn't won our opening game. We got rid of that. 

"We hadn’t beaten Germany. We got rid of that. This team are breaking down barriers. 

"Everyone was saying we’re too negative, we don’t take risks. Southgate has a game plan to be hard to beat. These guys are playing for their manager — you can tell.

"We've been waiting for this. To feel the energy in here. It's the stuff of dreams. This will live on forever.

"There's nobody left that England will fear. They'll all be tough but everyone in this draw England will feel comfortable they will beat."

Leaving on a Low note

Understandably, outgoing Germany boss Joachim Low did not share England's joy. 

He said: "We didn't take opportunities of the two great chances we had with Muller and [Timo] Werner. 

"You need to take advantage of them if you want to succeed. The English team did that. We were not clinical enough or effective enough."