Youri Tielemans has identified what makes absent Belgium teammate Kevin De Bruyne such a "special player" ahead of their Euro 2020 quarterfinal against Italy on Friday.

Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez declared that Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne will miss the quarter after sustaining an ankle knock in their last-16 win over Portugal. De Bruyne was also absent from training on Wednesday.

De Bruyne, who missed Belgium's opening 3-0 win over Russia with a facial injury, has scored one goal and provided two assists during Euro 2020, helping the Red Devils win all four games, meaning Martinez has a difficult job replacing him.

"Kevin is a special player because in my opinion, he always makes the right decision, even if you think he misplaces a pass, it’s not," Tielemans said during a news conference ahead of the quarterfinals.

"Always does something in his mind, always makes the right decision, very efficient, has a lot of assists or goals, that helps our team a lot."

He added: "As a team we have to create more options on the ball, move more, and make the right choices.

"Maybe we were under pressure a little bit, second half against Portugal, they had a lot of offensive options on the pitch, made it difficult for us to get out of there, as a team we have to find those solutions."

De Bruyne was replaced early in the second half against Portugal due to injury, before Belgium survived a barrage of pressure, with the 2016 European champions ending with 23-6 shots.

Belgium, who finished third at the 2018 World Cup and lost in the quarters at the 2016 Euros, ground out the win in a sign of maturity according to Tielemans.

"We learnt lessons from 2018, we’re more realistic, we play nice football, certain matches we have a lot of possession, create chances," the Leicester City midfielder said.

"Like you saw against Portugal there’s moments you have to suffer as a team, you might not get many opportunities, you have to score them, that’s where we learned from Russia, to be efficient, decisive in the right moment, when we have an opportunity to score we remember that from 2018."

Forward Dries Mertens is one candidate to come into the Belgium XI to replace De Bruyne against Italy, having replaced him against Portugal.

Mertens plays his club football with Napoli in Serie A, and added that quarterfinal opponents Italy appeared full of confidence.

"I’ve seen they have a lot more confidence now, they’ve played many matches and won a lot without giving goals away," he said.

"It gives confidence, experienced players but also young players, the way they celebrate when they win, many people didn’t expect that, it gives them a lot of confidence."

The 34-year-old also added there was no thought about Euro 2020 being his or this generation of Belgian players' last chance to win a trophy.

"No, not really," he said. "We do need to be realistic, realise we’re here now, we have a chance, you don’t get chances with a national team to win, every two years you have one chance to win one trophy, its very little.

"We’ve been doing well for a few years now, this is a chance we need to take, we have great facilities, we have great staff, people who know where we want to go.

"Those are important moments, I believe in the future of the Belgium team. This is a chance we have to take."

Lionel Messi will have the option to bring his long-standing association with Barcelona to an end in a matter of hours.

The 34-year-old's Camp Nou contract is set to expire on July 1, leaving him free to move on from the club where he has spent the entirety of his 17-year professional career thus far.

Fortunately for Barca, that outcome looks unlikely, with recent reports suggesting that the Argentina great is on the verge of agreeing fresh terms.

Should Messi put pen to paper on that extension, it will increase the possibility of him joining the ranks of players who spent their whole careers at just one club. 

Here, we take a look at five of football's most celebrated one-club men.

Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)

Indisputably one of the greatest defenders of all-time, Maldini made his Milan debut as a 16-year-old in 1985 and spent the next quarter of a century at San Siro, winning seven Serie A titles and five Champions Leagues.

Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)

Like Maldini, Giggs progressed from prodigious young talent to distinguished elder statesman as he represented United from 1990 to 2014. Two Champions Leagues and 13 Premier League titles sit among an astonishing 34 honours amassed by Giggs across 963 senior United appearances.

Francesco Totti (Roma)

Totti bid an emotional farewell to Roma at the end of the 2016-17 campaign after 786 competitive appearances and 307 goals – matching Maldini's record of appearing in 25 Serie A seasons.

Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

A long-time team-mate of Messi's and the captain of Pep Guardiola's mesmeric treble winners of 2008-09, Puyol won six LaLiga titles and three Champions Leagues. With 593 appearances for Barcelona to his name, the defender sits fifth on the club's all-time list behind Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, and the outright leader Messi on 778.

Matthew Le Tissier (Southampton)

A mercurial forward with a knack for scoring improbably audacious goals, Le Tissier was regularly linked with the leading lights of English football during his 1990s heyday. He remained loyal to boyhood club Southampton to cement icon status on the south coast, although a mere eight appearances for England provides a talking point about what might have been possible had he not resisted offers from bigger clubs. 

Oleksandr Zinchenko says Ukraine must find a way to stop the "amazing" Raheem Sterling but they should not fear facing England in a Euro 2020 quarter-final on Saturday.

Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 after extra time at Hampden Park on Tuesday courtesy of a last-gasp winner from Artem Dovbyk.

Andriy Shevchenko's side travel to Rome to face the Three Lions at the Stadio Olimpico, with Gareth Southgate's side having beaten Germany 2-0 at Wembley.

Sterling opened the scoring for England with his third goal of the tournament before Harry Kane sealed the victory.

Zinchenko, who was on target in the win over Sweden, knows Ukraine will have to keep a close eye on his Manchester City team-mate in the Eternal City.

"Raheem Sterling is one of the best wingers in the world. Right now he is in amazing form," said the full-back.

"He is great, he makes the difference. We obviously need to pay attention to him and we will need to try to somehow stop him because he’s on a roll now.

"Who is the strongest opponent that I have ever played? I have said several times that it's the footballers from Manchester City, those that I see every day at training."

England are the only team in the tournament who have not conceded a goal but Zinchenko says Ukraine should be motivated by the challenge of breaching their resolute defence.

"It is really difficult to score against England, they are really well organised," said Zinchenko.

"They have a really good set of footballers and the substitute bench probably costs [the same] as three Ukrainian teams.

"This shouldn't be really scary for us, this should motivate us. We need to give ourselves the highest aims, the highest goals, and I am sure that the coaching team will get the strategy for us.

"I sense myself that everything is possible in this life and we will do everything we can for it. I've watched pretty much all the games that England have played, except today because we were getting ready for our game.

"The first thing that I noticed is I know quite a lot of those players personally because I see them in the Premier League."

Thomas Muller has expressed the pain he is suffering after missing a golden opportunity in Germany's 2-0 Euro 2020 defeat to England.

Muller fired wide with only Jordan Pickford to beat when Joachim Low's side were 1-0 down with nine minutes to go in the round of 16 tie at Wembley on Tuesday.

The Bayern Munich forward had his head in his hands after that costly miss with time running out for Germany to stay in the tournament.

Harry Kane doubled England's lead with a header five minutes later and Muller cut a deflated figure when he was substituted in stoppage time.

Muller failed to score in the tournament after being recalled from the international wilderness by Low, managing only one shot on target in four games and missing his only big chance.

The 31-year-old opened up on his miss in a social media post.

"There it was, that one moment that you will remember in the end, that brings you sleep at night. For whom you work, train and live as a footballer," he posted on Instagram.

"That moment when you have it in your own hands to bring your team back into a close knockout game and to send an entire football nation into ecstasy. To get this opportunity and then to leave it unused, it really hurts me. 

"It hurts for the entire DFB team. My team-mates and our coach, who all gave me the confidence to be there right then. 

"But above all, it hurts because of all the Germany fans out there who stood by us and supported us during this European Championship despite difficult omens. Thank you for your support."

What does the future hold for Kylian Mbappe?

The Paris Saint-Germain star is wanted in France and Spain.

France striker Mbappe is reportedly facing a decision over his future.

TOP STORY – MBAPPE HAS DECISION TO MAKE

Kylian Mbappe has a decision to make over his future as he enters the final year of his Paris Saint-Germain contract, according to the front pages of Wednesday's Marca and Diario AS.

Mbappe will become a free agent at the end of the 2021-22 season and the PSG star continues to be heavily linked with LaLiga giants Real Madrid.

L'Equipe, however, claims PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has taken over from sporting director Leonardo in contract negotiations and Mbappe is reportedly pleased with the club's early transfer business as Gianluigi Donnarumma prepares to join Georginio Wijnaldum in Paris.

ROUND-UP

- Fabrizio Romano reports Cristiano Ronaldo's future at Juventus is uncertain. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has been linked with PSG, Madrid and Manchester United. Contracted to Juve until 2022, Romano says Ronaldo is not negotiating a new deal as the Serie A giants wait for the superstar to decide whether he stays or leaves.

- Aston Villa are hopeful of keeping star captain Jack Grealish amid interest from Premier League champions Manchester City, per The Telegraph.

- Bild reports RB Leipzig are set to sign Eintracht Frankfurt forward Andre Silva. The Portugal international starred in 2020-21 and has been linked with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Madrid, United and City.

- United are eyeing Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka as a possible replacement for Paul Pogba, according to Sport Bild. Bayern and Goretzka have been discussing a new deal. It comes as Bayern also try to re-sign Kingsley Coman and Joshua Kimmich. Coman has been linked with United and Liverpool.

- Atalanta are in advanced talks to sign Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso, claims Sky Sport Italia. Musso has previously been linked with Serie A champions Inter, who are reportedly eyeing Ajax's Andre Onana.

- Le10 Sport claims negotiations between PSG and former Madrid captain Sergio Ramos have hit a snag due to the club's unwillingness to offer a two-year deal. Ramos has also been linked with United, City, Chelsea and Juventus on a free transfer.

- A resolution for Lionel Messi's contract renewal at Barcelona does not seem to be close as he is set to officially become a free agent at midnight on Wednesday, claims Marca. Barca are pushing to complete the new deal.

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford appeared to confirm Jadon Sancho's blockbuster arrival from Borussia Dortmund via social media on Tuesday.

Sancho has long been linked with a move to United and the Premier League giants are reportedly nearing a deal to sign the England international.

After failing to prise Sancho from Dortmund at the start of 2020-21, United are believed to be on the cusp of finally landing the 21-year-old.

Rashford – on England duty with Sancho at Euro 2020 – seemingly confirmed the proposed transfer on Twitter.

After a Twitter user wrote "Announce Sancho, Marcus", Rashford replied: "Yes x".

Sancho provided eight goals and 11 assists in 26 Bundesliga games, and was the division's fifth most successful chance creator, carving out 67 opportunities.

The former Manchester City sensation ended the 2020-21 season with 16 goals across all competitions as Dortmund finished third in the Bundesliga and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

Sancho also scored twice in Dortmund's 4-1 DFB-Pokal triumph over RB Leipzig, while supplying an assist for Erling Haaland in the final.

Jamaica international and Bayer Leverkusen wide man Leon Bailey has recovered from a toe injury and is fit to take part in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, which gets underway next week.

The 22-year-old winger had a strong season for the German outfit, overall, providing 15 goals and 10 assists during the team’s campaign.  Overall Leverkusen finished 6^th and in the European League places.

Bailey, however, suffered an injury, a broken toe, during the team’s penultimate game of the season against Werder Bremen a few weeks before the end of the season.  Initially, there was concern that the player could have missed the tournament, but he recently concerned that he was fully recovered and eager to get back on the field for the country.  He has since resumed training.

Bailey was named as part of a large preliminary squad, which has also included West Ham’s Michail Antonio and several other overseas-based players.  The winger, who has represented the country eight times is also expected to play a crucial role in the country’s attempts to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.  The CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers will resume in September.

Achraf Hakimi's agent Alejandro Camano said "those who leave Inter are always sad" as the star full-back nears a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG are reportedly closing in on a deal to lure Hakimi to the Ligue 1 giants, despite interest from Champions League holders Chelsea.

After arriving from Real Madrid ahead of 2020-21, Hakimi helped Inter to their first Scudetto in 10 years, but his future has been in doubt amid Inter's financial problems.

With Inter trying to cut costs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Hakimi, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid target Lautaro Martinez, Romelu Lukaku and Alessandro Bastoni could reportedly be sold following Antonio Conte's departure.

Camano represents both Hakimi and Martinez, and he discussed the pair on Tuesday.

"We talked about several things, we can't say yet that Hakimi is a new PSG player," Camano told Tuttomercatoweb. "We talked about everything.

"Martinez stays here, now he's in Argentina for the Copa America. Lautaro is an Inter player, he has a two-year contract and is happy here.

"If Hakimi is sad to leave Inter? Those who leave Inter are always sad."

Hakimi played in 37 of Inter's 38 Serie A fixtures as the Nerazzurri were crowned Italian champions, making 29 starts. Only Martinez (38) featured in more top-flight games for Inter in 2020-21.

He scored seven league goals, including a double against Bologna in December, a total only bettered in Inter's ranks by Martinez (17) and Lukaku (24), as well as laying on a further eight assists.

Hakimi played 3,216 minutes across 45 appearances in all competitions, and by early February had been directly involved in 10 Serie A goals, becoming the first defender to do so in Europe's top five leagues in 2020-21. Maicon – in 2009-10 – was the last Inter defender to score at least six league goals.

He created 46 opportunities, with all but one from open play, while his tally of 12 big chances crafted is a joint team-high alongside Ivan Perisic. Hakimi also delivered 145 crosses from open play, 17 more than any other Inter player, recording an accuracy of 25.52 per cent.

Hakimi is more renowned for his attacking, but helped Inter to eight clean sheets in total – of defenders, Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij (both 14) and Bastoni (15), were involved in more.

Indeed, Hakimi's tally of 38 successful tackles is a higher total than any of his fellow defensive team-mates managed.

Hakimi's ball-carrying ability is another major facet of his play. Over 370 carries, he progressed the ball 4,609 metres, at an average of 12.46m.

Sixteen of the carries resulted in a shot, and of all of the full-backs in Europe's top five leagues, Hakimi is top for carries with goals and assists (four and five respectively).

Andriy Shevchenko hailed his heroic Ukraine players following their dramatic 2-1 extra-time win over Sweden as he prepares to turn his focus to a Euro 2020 quarter-final showdown against England.

Ukraine progressed to the European Championship last eight for the first time thanks to Artem Dovbyk's last-gasp winner in extra time after Oleksandr Zinchenko had seen his opener cancelled out by Emil Forsberg on Tuesday.

Shevchenko's Ukraine will face England, who beat Germany 2-0 at Wembley earlier in the day, in Rome on Saturday after Dovbyk headed home at the end of 120 minutes.

Ukraine's only previous appearance in the knockout stages of a major competition came at the 2006 World Cup when eliminating Switzerland before losing to Italy in the last eight.

"I thank my team for all their efforts, for the heroism they have shown," head coach Shevchenko told a post-match media conference.

"Both teams played very well. It was an interesting match. Neither side wanted to lose so we got this drama at the end. 

"With this performance and commitment, our team has deserved the love of the whole country."

Shevchenko's side are still to keep a clean sheet at a European Championship, conceding at least once in each of their 10 games, but he felt his side's tactics were spot on against Sweden.

He added: "We knew how our team should play from the first minutes. We knew who could strengthen us [during the game]. The plan we had developed has worked well.

"We decided to protect the wide areas more. We asked our midfielders to work harder and changed Andriy Yarmolenko's position. We tried to control the game but it wasn't that way from time to time. But the team has fully fulfilled our plan."

Ukraine defender Zinchenko felt the victory answered some of the negativity which had come their way after an underwhelming group stage, which saw them only beat North Macedonia.

"It was hard for me to concentrate on this game because we had so much criticism for our three group games," he said.

"I felt I could give the team more. I'm very proud that we showed our country and the whole of Europe that we can achieve our goals.

"It's a historical achievement. My advice to everyone – let's celebrate, we only live once and we may never repeat these moments again."

Sweden counterpart Janne Andersson felt his team deserved credit despite exiting the tournament.

Marcus Danielson was sent off in extra time and Ukraine made the extra man count when Zinchenko's cross was headed in from close range by substitute Dovbyk at Hampden Park.

"We'll have to fly home and go our separate ways. Suddenly it all ends, this great thing we've been building together," he said.

"We've come close to achieving something really good. We leave this with flying colours, as Sweden hadn't passed a group stage since 2004."

After Monday saw a shock exit for world champions France and 14 goals across two games, Tuesday's last-16 ties at Euro 2020 had plenty to live up to.

But, while there was not quite as much goalmouth action this time around, there were plenty of intriguing talking points as two more sides booked their place in the quarter-finals.

First up, England claimed their first ever knockout-stage victory inside 90 minutes at a European Championship, vanquishing old rivals Germany at Wembley.

And then Ukraine needed the second-latest goal in the tournament's history to edge out Sweden in a tense battle for a last-eight berth.

Here, Stats Perform looks at the key Opta stats from another thrilling day of Euros action.

England 2-0 Germany: Three Lions break tournament hoodoo

England came into their last-16 tie knowing they would need to beat Germany in a competitive game at Wembley for the first time since the 1966 World Cup final to seal their place in the next round.

That this dismal three-match run against their rivals was finally ended owes much to Raheem Sterling, who bagged the opener to extend what has been a hugely successful tournament thus far.

The Manchester City forward has now scored 15 goals in his last 20 appearances in all competitions for England having gone 27 games without finding the net prior to this run.

His latest strike also meant he became only the second player to score each of the Three Lions' first three goals of an edition of a major tournament after Gary Lineker did so at the 1986 World Cup.

England are now 15 games unbeaten at Wembley in major tournaments and will hope to earn the chance to extend that run in the semi-finals and final this summer by getting past Ukraine in the quarters in Rome this weekend.

As for Germany, they saw the Joachim Low era end with a fifth winless game from their last six at the European Championships (D2 L3).

Ukraine 2-1 Sweden (aet): Shevchenko's men leave it late

Ukraine looked like they might cruise into the quarters when a dominant start was capped by Oleksandr Zinchenko becoming the fifth different City player to net at this year's Euros (a figure only matched by Atalanta).

But they perhaps did not account for Emil Forsberg grabbing his customary goal to become the first Sweden player to score in three consecutive major tournament appearances since Kennet Andersson at the 1994 World Cup.

With neither side able to add to those strikes in regulation, extra time was required for a fourth occasion in this year's last 16 – the most ever in a single knockout round at any European Championship.

However, the match would not reach penalties, with Artem Dovbyk scoring the second-latest goal in European Championship history (120 minutes and 37 seconds) to win it.

Only Turkey's Semih Senturk has managed to score later in a Euros match, doing so after 121 minutes and one second against Croatia in 2008.

As a result, Ukraine secured their place in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for only the second time (the last coming in the 2006 World Cup), while Sweden made it three knockout-stage defeats from three at the Euros (also against Germany in 1992 and the Netherlands in 2004).

If Tuesday's first knockout game at Euro 2020 was billed as a battle to secure a straightforward run to the final, the late kick-off was all about Ukraine and Sweden seizing an opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.

After overcoming their old rivals Germany at Wembley Stadium, England will be strongly favoured to reach the competition's showpiece by progressing through the kindest side of the draw.

Yet every other nation alongside them will also sense the possibility of making history at a tournament that has already seen its fair share of upsets.

It is Ukraine who will get the chance to shock the Three Lions in Rome on Saturday, having claimed a 2-1 win over Sweden with a goal in stoppage time of extra time.

And, though Andriy Shevchenko's side did not produce the most convincing of performances in winning, they showed enough to prove that they may yet keep a dream run going.

Two up top back in fashion

Strike pairings are often considered a relic of a bygone era but both Ukraine and Sweden started this game with two up top.

Swedish duo Alexander Isak and Emil Forsberg were arguably the more threatening throughout, with the latter in particular continuing his remarkable tournament.

The RB Leipzig midfielder took six shots - twice as many as any other player on the pitch managed - across the 120 minutes as he led the way. Those attempts returned one goal - Forsberg's fourth of the competition - but he would have been celebrating a victory had two fine efforts not cannoned back off the post in the second half.

As for Ukraine, they began with captain Andriy Yarmolenko alongside Roman Yaremchuk, and both showed why they might cause problems for opponents deeper into the competition.

The pair laid on a shot apiece for each other across their time on the pitch together, while Yarmolenko picked out a beauty of an assist for Oleksandr Zinchenko's opening goal.

That meant the West Ham man has now been directly involved in five goals for Ukraine at major tournaments (2 goals, 3 assists); the joint-most of any player for the country, along with his current manager Shevchenko (5).

As for Shevchenko the tactician, he was rewarded for sticking to his guns by keeping men in the Swedish box as Yarmolenko's replacement Artem Dovbyk headed home the winner.

England's defenders know they will have their hands full when they come up against Ukraine's forwards this weekend.

Lack of experience could hurt Ukraine

Prior to this outing, Ukraine had lost seven of their past eight European Championship games.

The only exception was the victory over minnows North Macedonia in their group that proved just enough to bring them to the knockout stages of this year's tournament.

Never before have the Ukrainians gone this deep at a Euros, nor have they ever done better than reaching the quarter-finals in World Cup history, doing so in 2006 when their manager Shevchenko was part of the squad a player.

That lack of experience and the extra minutes in the legs provided by extra time at Hampden Park will surely encourage England.

Gareth Southgate's side are aiming to follow up a World Cup semi-final in 2018 with another deep run at a major competition - know-how could be crucial.

Ukraine are not the only team still left standing who had to work overtime to progress, either. Their clash with Sweden was the fourth Euro 2020 last-16 tie to finish level at the end of 90 minutes (also Italy v Austria, Croatia v Spain and France v Switzerland), the most ever in a single knockout round.

Perennial rivals Waterhouse and Harbour View battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the fifth and final match of the first round of the Jamaica Premier League.

The match played at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, on the grounds of the University of the West Indies, saw Andre Fletcher converting a penalty for Waterhouse in the 15th minute but Oquassa Chong replied with a beautiful freekick in the 24th minute.

Just before Waterhouse got their penalty, Harbour View were left despondent as seconds before, they too had a loud shout for a penalty after Chong crashed to the turf in the area.  Moments after and veteran Lovel Palmer was deemed to have committed a foul on Waterhouse’s Kenroy Howell.  Referee Christopher Mason pointed to the spot after a brief look at the play.  Andre Fletcher stepped up and fired past Tafari Chambers in goal and gave Waterhouse a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

The talented Chong, now becoming a freekick specialist from his exploits with Jamaica College in the Manning Cup, stepped up and curled a beauty past Tafari Chamber’s brother, Akeem, to pull Harbour View level in minute 24.  It was an even game with a fair result and both teams really tried to play positive football in what turned out to be an entertaining encounter.

Waterhouse’s assistant coach, Daniel Bent, was pleased with the point although he believed they could have secured all three.

“Well, we got a point and we didn’t lose the game. But we wanted all three points but that didn’t come our way,” he pointed out.

“I think we had a good first half and even a better second half. We could have scored many goals if our decisions in the final third were better,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Harbour View’s head coach Ludlow Bernard said he was not totally disappointed with the result.

“It was a game of two halves. We attempted in the second half to really play on the counter but I don’t think our distribution was great and it kind of affected our abilities to create goal-scoring opportunities,” said Bernard.

Joachim Low highlighted Thomas Muller's missed chance during the closing stages as a pivotal moment in the 2-0 Euro 2020 defeat to England that brought down the curtain on his 15 years in charge of Germany.

Second-half goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane booked a place in the quarter-finals for Gareth Southgate's side at a raucous Wembley.

But, after Sterling's third goal of the tournament, the Manchester City forward played a wretched pass towards his own half that released Muller.

The experienced Bayern Munich star bore down on Jordan Pickford's area and looked certain to score, only to fire wide.

"We didn't take advantage of the two great opportunities that we had with Muller and [Timo] Werner," Low said.

"It was obvious no team wanted to take too many risks, especially in their defensive work. It was expected that not many opportunities would be created.

"But you need to take advantage and be clinical if you want to succeed. The English side scored on their first opportunity and we didn't, so it was difficult.

"We would have turned the match around with the chance of Muller, but then they got their second and it was not possible to turn the match around.

"The team threw in everything but we were not clinical enough, not effective enough. The team needs to mature as a team to be more successful."

Low's announcement before the tournament means that such next steps will occur without him and Tuesday's reverse at Wembley saw a glorious reign limped to a forgettable conclusion.

After taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006, Low led Germany to the final of Euro 2008, the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 before World Cup glory in 2014.

A youthful Germany team lifted the 2017 Confederations Cup after another semi-final exit at Euro 2016 but they failed to get out of the group stage during their World Cup defence in Russia and Low was unable to regain momentum.

"At the moment I haven't taken any decision yet," he replied when asked about his next move.

"When I took my decision to stop after this tournament, I had different thoughts back then.

"We will see in the next days and weeks. After 15 years in this job, with all the responsibility that is involved, taking a break is necessary.

"There will be a time when you find new energy for something else. At the moment, I do not have any concrete plans." 

Gareth Southgate acknowledged his job as England manager would have been on the line had they not pulled off a 2-0 Euro 2020 last-16 win against Germany.

Reports over the past week have suggested the Football Association (FA) are keen to keep Southgate on beyond the 2022 World Cup, but he has not courted popularity with England's wider fanbase after conservative team selections throughout Euro 2020.

Those same supporters were in raptures at Wembley on Tuesday, when Raheem Sterling's third goal of the tournament and much-needed header for captain Harry Kane gave the Three Lions a stirring triumph over their old rivals.

Southgate reverted to a 3-4-3 setup to match Germany's formation, with defensive midfielders Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips stationed in front of the back three, while the likes of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford remained unused on the bench.

Jack Grealish did emerge after 69 minutes to provide a creative spark, having a hand in both goals, with the Aston Villa man's omission from the XI another example of Southgate failing to be persuaded by popular opinion.

Speaking to BBC Sport afterwards, he acknowledged such single-mindedness comes with a price.

"You know that if you change the shape, you pick certain personnel instead of others and if it goes wrong you're dead," he said.

"We had to go about it in a way we believe. We wanted aggressive pressure all over the field. We felt that to match them up was the right way of doing that and speed in behind would cause them a problem.

"Bukayo [Saka] and Raheem, right from the start really created that jeopardy in their backline.

"We know that they were going to have moments of possession because they've got really good footballers and experienced players. But the whole team defended incredibly – the goalkeeper, right the way through.

"It was a fabulous performance, I can't give enough credit to the players."

Pre-tournament scrutiny over Sterling's worth to the England cause have been buried by weight of goals, but three laboured and scoreless group-stage outings prompted questions that Southgate was glad to see Kane answer.

"They both have to prove people wrong all the time," he added.

"Raheem has been immense for us over a three or four year period. We've got that faith and trust in him and his performances have been electric right from the start.

"For Harry, a really important moment I think. When you're a centre-forward, it doesn't matter what else you're doing in the game, you need those goals."

England’s last-16 win over Germany at Euro 2020 proved their doubters wrong as Gareth Southgate’s side seized the chance to create their own piece of history at Wembley, according to Declan Rice.

A cagey contest was finally cracked open in the 75th minute when Raheem Sterling scored his third goal of the tournament, making it 15 in his past 20 outings at international level.

Thomas Muller fluffed a glorious chance to equalise before Harry Kane doubled the lead, heading home Jack Grealish’s cross to seal a place in the next round.

England lost on penalties to Germany in the semi-finals of the 1996 edition at the historic venue – albeit it has been rebuilt since then – but Rice was delighted to play his part in a famous triumph, one that was delivered after the squad received criticism for their displays in the group stage.

"It's incredible. A lot of people looked at the end of the group stage and they had written us off," Rice told BBC Sport.

"Complaints about the performances, not scoring enough goals. You read a load of things. But, as players, you put that to the back of your minds and want to prove people wrong.

"I think today, in front of a full house, everyone had that fire in their belly to go out there and, for one, knock Germany out of the tournament and, two, progress to the next round.

"It's history. In the press conferences this week all the players have been asked about the previous games with Germany. Today we created our own bit of history, we've made the most of the opportunity on the pitch."

England will play the winners of the clash between Sweden and Ukraine next in Rome, with success on Italian soil then leading to a semi-final appearance back at Wembley.

For Rice, the bond within the squad has built belief that something special can be achieved, particularly with the final also taking place in London.

"We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. Saturday, we travel to Rome for a massive game and we want to win that and progress to the semi-finals," the West Ham midfielder said.

"All I can say today, is the players, the fans, the occasion, how we were up for in the changing room... I've not been part of a team with a togetherness like this.

"We are all in it with each other, we really believe we have the quality and, with the tournament pretty much being at Wembley, we can keep progressing."

Sterling, who revealed he briefly feared his opening goal was set to be ruled out for an offside decision, made clear how pivotal Rice and midfield partner Kalvin Phillips had been to the victory, the latter regaining possession 11 times - the most by an England player in a European Championship fixture since Tony Adams (13) in 1996.

"We knew the intensity we can play at and not a lot of teams can deal with it," Sterling told BBC Sport. "The two players in midfield, Declan and Kalvin, they ate up the grass and were animals in there.

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

England have now kept clean sheets in their opening four matches at a major tournament for just the second time, the other occasion coming when they went on to lift the World Cup in 1966.