Fresh from playing an instrumental role in the Three Lions' 5-1 victory over Germany, Gerrard said: ``I always believed that if everyone plays to the best of their ability then we are better than Germany man for man - and we have proved it. ``There's no doubt this result will send out massive signals to the rest of the world. People will have watched that result with interest.

``It sends out a message to the other good teams that we are going to come up against. If we keep playing like that not many sides will want to play us.

``We don't fear anyone. If we play to our best, we can beat anyone with this team. We can even beat the best teams in the world. Definitely.

``If we keep playing like that we've got a great chance of going to the World Cup Finals and doing well.

``Can we win the World Cup? Who knows? All I know is not many teams will beat us if we continue to perform like that.

``The good other thing is that we are a young side and if we keep progressing and learning, and the lads get more experience and are used to playing with each other, then it can get even better.

``People mention my 100% record with England, and I hope it continues, but since the new manager took over the whole team has put in some great performances to get some great results.''

After scoring his first ever international goal, Gerrard admitted: ``I had dreamed of scoring against Germany. In the build up there is a lot of time to think about things and I wondered what it would feel like to score against them.

''When it happened I felt like running into the crowd. I was so elated. Rio Ferdinand set it up beautifully and it crept into the corner of the net.''

Gerrard knows that England cannot get too carried away and they have to complete the task against Albania at St James' Park on Wednesday and then Greece at Old Trafford in October.

He said: ``The atmosphere in the changing room was fantastic. The manager was quiet but I think inside he was dying to let himself go.

``But we cannot afford to underestimate Albania because if we slip up on Wednesday this result against Germany will mean nothing.

``It's important we go into that game with exactly the same sort of attitude.''