Gareth Barry has urged England to play with freedom and no fear when they face Germany in Sunday's World Cup last 16 clash in Bloemfontein.
The Manchester City midfielder believes Fabio Capello's side will be bubbling with confidence after reviving their hopes with an impressive 1-0 victory over Slovenia.
Barry, who came through his first 90 minutes against Slovenia since suffering ankle damage in early May, said: "It was a bit of a relief to get through. It was a big game and you are always relieved when the outcome is a positive one. We just hope that result can breed confidence with everyone and we can kick on."
Barry added: "We will be a more confident side on Sunday now. There was a lot of pressure on us. I don't think you would have known the pressure we were under with the way we played.
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"We played quite well, created a few good chances and played some good football. Hopefully we can kick on from there.
"Now we are into the knockout stages anything can happen. We have to believe in ourselves. We hope the freedom is there now. We are going into the knockout round and we need to play our natural game.
Barry is relishing the clash with Germany which will bring back memories for him of Italia '90 when England lost to their old rivals on penalties in the semi-finals.
He said: "1990 sticks out for me. It is probably the first World Cup I really remember or got involved in. I have great memories of it. Hopefully we can be on the right end of it this time. We know Germany in the last 16 will be a great game for the country.
"We are aware of what the game means. I speak to people back home and they let us know what is going on. But at this stage it doesn't matter too much who we play. Maybe it would have been a little bit more of a confidence booster to win the group.
"But who knows how the other group will shape up. That has not come into our minds."
Source: PA
