Gerrard asks players to beat Germany and secure place in history

London, Jun 27 (ANI): England skipper Steven Gerrard has asked his players to secure their place in World Cup history in Bloemfontein today by beating Germany and lead the country to the ultimate World Cup glory.

Giving a rallying cry to his players, Gerrard said: "These are the games that can define a career. It's now you need to stand up and be counted as players. This is the stage I wanted to be playing on when I was growing up. There could be a big moment in the game that can define the career of any player out there."

"I am looking forward to it because it's a fantastic game to play in. Everyone is excited. My plan as captain was to lead this team as far as I can. I was given the captaincy under difficult circumstances but it is now my responsibility to lead and I'm loving it," News of the World quoted him, as saying.

"There's nothing I would love better than to win this game and lead the boys into the last eight. We're feeling confident going in on the back of a good performance. The mood is good and we have prepared hard. We'll do whatever it takes to get into the last eight.

"We know it will be a very difficult game and in an ideal world we'd like to win it in 90 minutes. But we'll be ready if it goes to extra-time and penalties," Gerrard said.

Gerrard provided another boost to Rooney, insisting that this is the day the ace striker shows the world his footballing prowess.

"Top players put pressure on themselves and Wayne's doing that. But it"s only a matter of time before he scores in this tournament.

"I have every confidence in him. He's looking really sharp in training and I'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. The pressure's not just on Wayne, though. It's on the whole team," Gerrard said. (ANI)