England

• Founded:1863
• Manager:Fabio Capello

• Ground:Wembley
• Capacity:90000

Last Game: 07-Oct-2011 20:00

Montenegro

VS

England

Full match report

Competing in:

• Internationals
• World Cup European Qualifiers

Pearce: Victory is everything

29 Jun 2009 - 07:18:00

Click To Enlarge

Coach Stuart Pearce has warned his England Under-21 side that only victory matters when they face Germany in the final of the European Championship.

England will contest a first major championship final for the first time in 25 years and Pearce insists that coming second will be viewed as failure.

"Success is not coming away as a gallant loser," said Pearce, who twice lost penalty shoot-outs in major competitions to Germany during his time as an England player.

"We feel we have had no success yet. The only way we will deem to have success is if we win.

"Whoever goes away without the trophy will not think they have had a good tournament."

England will be without three key players for the final in Malmo with strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell suspended and goalkeeper Joe Hart's appeal against a ban falling on deaf ears.

However, an upbeat Pearce claims he is pleased with the options he has at his disposal.

"For any coach to come to a final and have everyone fit and on form, you can't ask for any more," he added.

"Wherever they are asked to play, they will do with professionalism. We pick a team to win the match and want a big performance for everyone.

"England v Germany is a massive game, the occasion is big, everyone is looking forward to it.

"We have seen how much excitement is generated in England and Germany because it is both our national games."