Gareth Southgate has told his squad to become immortals by beating Germany at Wembley.
Southgate says his England players can be national heroes by scoring a goal which will be remembered forever if it beats their biggest football rivals.
England are still haunted by their defeat to losing to Germany on penalties in Euro 96 and this is their biggest game at Wembley since and the chance to rewrite history.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “Every time you play for England you have an opportunity to score a goal or create a moment that lives with people forever. That is to be cherished, really. That is what presents itself.
“I think every time you pull an England shirt on you have the opportunity to score a goal that will be shown forever and to create a bit of skill or be involved in a match that lives on in the memory.
“That’s the beauty of playing for your country. If you think of all the big players in history of course club, European football, there are significant memories, but when you picture those great players it’s normally in an international shirt that their biggest memories are formed.
“That is the case every time you pull on an England shirt. It is an opportunity that few get and these lads have earned it. I’m sure they are going to relish that.”
Southgate is set to switch to a back three formation with Harry Maguire, John Stones and Kyle Walker ready to step in to counter act Germany with a place in the quarter final at stake.
Southgate added: “We are in a tournament to get ourselves to a quarter-final. This what these lads have got – this chance to put another marker down.
“I have always been very firm with them they should not worry about what has gone before. I made that point explicitly to them this week.”
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England have been knocked out of three major tournaments by Germany in Southgate's lifetime, including Euro '96 where he missed the crucial penalty.
But he insists the rivalry between the two nations matters little to his players.
"I don't need to demystify it," Southgate said. "The history is an irrelevance for them.
"We've got boys born into the 2000s, which is obviously scary but it's the reality of the group we're dealing with.
"This team have put down lots of historical performances in the last couple of years, made their own history, made their own stories and this is how they should view this game.
"It's an opportunity. We've only won one knockout match in a European Championship as a country, so they've got a great chance to go and be the first team since 1996 to do that."
England duo Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell are in contention for the tie after observing a period of isolation duo to Covid-19 precautions.
Both players have been training away from the rest of the group but have been kept up to speed with England's game plan and set piece routines via Zoom, while Southgate has also held discussions with them over video link.
