Germany v England
International Friendly
7.45pm (GMT), Wednesday 19 November 2008
Olympic Stadium, Berlin
Live on ITV1
Ahead of England's final game of the year, Rio Ferdinand says that he is expecting a testing encounter as the Three Lions travel to Germany to take on Joachim Low's side who reached the Euro 2008 Final.
Ferdinand says all England’s players are concentrating on performances on the pitch as they bid to do the impossible – and recreate memories of 2001 when they travel to Berlin.
"I’m expecting a tough game against a very good German team," said the Manchester United defender. "It will very tough to do what we did last time. Even then I remember they could have gone two goals up early on.
"But after that it was a fairytale to be honest. We scored five goals, Michael Owen got a hat-trick and Steven Gerard and Emile Heskey scored as well. It was great to be involved in.
"The thing I remember most is just the big scoreboard and seeing 'Germany 1 England 5' on it. That was a great sight and a nice moment! But time moves on, it’s seven years ago now even though it only seems like yesterday. And this will be a very different match."
Comparing the squads of 2001 and 2008 is difficult, especially as England are progressing at such a pace under new manager Capello. But Ferdinand says things are looking up.
He said: "There’s some new faces of course since 2001 but we still have the nucleus of a pretty decent team. We are ever improving at the moment and we’re on a steady graph in the right direction.
"If we can continue doing what we’re doing, then we’ll be okay. We got a very good result in Belarus in the last match, which could have been a bit of a banana skin. If we got to Germany and put on a similar type of performance and get a few goals, then it would be a very good result.
"But the main thing is we can’t get ahead of ourselves. Too many times, especially under the last two managers, we’ve got certain results and then everyone has put us down as world beaters and said we are going to win the World Cup and bring it home.
"That’s not been the case. And it wasn’t after the 5-1 match. I think we’ve got to make sure we stay relaxed and calm, keep playing our football and then hopefully results will look after themselves."
The good news for England is that not only are the senior team performing well but a string of up-and-coming youngsters – including Arsenal’s wonderkids led by 16-year-old Jack Wilshere – are suddenly making headlines. And even a Manchester United stalwart like Ferdinand admits to being a bit excited.
He said: "It’s always good to see good English talent and you are always interested to hear about young English players, no matter where they are playing. You like to cast your eye over them and have a little look and see how they are doing.
"It’s encouraging for England. It looks like they have some real talented players down at Arsenal and we’ve got some coming through at United as well.
"The manager at United doesn’t like us talking too much about the young players and putting pressure on them but I feel someone like Danny Welbeck has got a real chance of becoming a top player.
"He’s at a club where it’s difficult to get into the team, especially in his position because we’ve got some quality players there. But he’s someone who does things in training sessions that make you think he’s got something most people haven’t. So the future should be good for England."