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Lahm claims penalties would 'suit' Germany

Philipp Lahm admits Germany practise penalties regularly © Getty Images

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Germany captain Philipp Lahm has started the penalty mind-games with England ahead of Sunday's second round clash, claiming a shoot-out would "suit" his side.

Germany famously knocked England out of both the 1990 World Cup and Euro '96 tournaments on penalties, and with the 2010 versions of each team appearing to be evenly matched after mixed results in the group stage, another shoot-out in Bloemfontein is a real possibility.

England coach Fabio Capello has named his five preferred penalty takers ahead of time and revealed they practise spot-kicks after every training session. It's no wonder - England have crashed out of the past two World Cups on penalties, including a shocking 3-1 shoot-out loss to Portugal in 2006 when current squad members Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all missed. Germany have scored their past 12 penalties in shoot-outs, and Lahm is happy to talk up the perceived advantage.

Lahm said: "Maybe it will go to penalties - that could suit us. I think we are mentally good, we will be prepared for it. We practise penalties sometimes, not every player, but sometimes. I hope the English won't be so confident. There is a big history (between the teams), they are always big games, interesting games. We will see, we are ready to fight. Then we will see who is in the next round.''

Joachim Low identified Wayne Rooney as the "big gun'' in the England team despite his lacklustre form at the tournament so far and Lahm agrees he is a man to keep a close watch on.

Asked if the Manchester United man was the biggest threat to Germany, Lahm said: "Yes, really, he's a good striker, he has scored many goals this year. He's a big player, and big players score goals in big matches. But there is also (Steven) Gerrard, (Frank) Lampard, (James) Milner, every player plays in the Premier League so every player is a good player. They have top players who play at the top level. They all play in the Premier League so I think they are favourites.''

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