Newcastle United hero Alan Shearer wants England to lay a marker down in history against Germany tonight.
Gareth Southgate's side take on the Germans in the last 16 of Euro 2020, with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs.
The build-up has been dominated by talk of previous encounters between the two sides - most notably the penalty shoot-out defeat for Terry Venables' England in Euro 96.
Shearer opened the scoring for the Three Lions that night, but could only look on as Southgate missed his spot-kick to send Germany into the final after the game ended 1-1.
But speaking on BBC ahead of tonight's game, Shearer says he doesn't want tonight's side to be looking back on what could have been in years to come,
"I don’t want any of these current players sitting here in 20 years and talking about getting beat by the Germans," Shearer said.
"We are obsessed with this fixture but these boys don’t need any of the baggage.
"This is our mistake, this is a huge, huge opportunity to give us something else to talk about.
"Do not let it pass. We talk about this end of the draw and that end of the draw wow, games at Wembley against Germany do not let it pass."
Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand agreed with Shearer's assessment, adding: "We talk about the history, it’s a huge chance (to make their own) don’t let this opportunity pass."
Meanwhile, German legend Jurgen Klinsmann remained confident.
"We have some special rivalries with Holland and Italy but England is huge," he said. "We can’t wait to get going. Hopefully we can keep our record positive."
