‘Germany would like to give Sancho a passport!’ – Matthaus baffled by England star’s lack of minutes at Euro 2020

Lothar Matthaus has been baffled by Jadon Sancho’s lack of minutes at Euro 2020, while joking that Germany would be happy to give the England star a passport.

Sancho was left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for England’s opening game against Croatia, and watched on from the bench as an unused substitute against Scotland before making a late cameo against the Czech Republic.

The Three Lions managed to set up a last-16 clash against Germany by finishing top of Group D, but have only scored twice so far due to a lack of risk-taking in the final third, and Matthaus cannot understand why Sancho’s talents are not being utilised.

What’s been said?

“He was one of the best players in the Bundesliga for the last two years,” The Germany legend has said of the Borussia Dortmund winger.

“If he is not good enough for England, we would like to give him a German passport! It has surprised many in Germany.”

Sancho’s credentials

Sancho has emerged as one of the top young players in Europe since joining Dortmund from Manchester City in 2017, scoring 50 goals in 137 games while setting up a further 64 for his team-mates.

The 21-year-old, who helped BVB finish fourth in the Bundesliga and win the DFB-Pokal last term, also boasts eight goal involvements in his first 20 games as a senior England international, despite only 10 of those coming as a starter.

Matthaus’ penalty warning for England

England and Germany have had many memorable battles down the years, with the Germans coming out on top in dramatic circumstances more often than not.

Matthaus was part of the German side that beat the Three Lions on penalties in the 1990 World Cup semi-finals, and thinks history will repeat itself if Tuesday’s clash at Wembley has to be decided by spot kicks.

“England have a chance to win – but not with penalty kicks,” he said. “If it goes to penalties, Germany will win, so England have to do it inside 120 minutes.

“We are always very good with penalties. It’s always a little bit of a joke between the Germans and the English but if it goes to a shootout then we are the favourites.

“You start to think about what has happened in the last 30 or 40 years. When we played in 1990 and 1996…

“It’s a lot of pressure for the English players because they read every day in the newspapers all the stories about penalties.”

Further reading