It will suit us if England match goes to penalties, warns Germany skipper Philipp Lahm

Germany beat Ghana 1-0 on Wednesday night to set up a meeting with England, who had beaten Slovenia by the same scoreline hours earlier, in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

The sides look evenly matched, which presents the possibility of another penalty shoot-out following on from the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96.

Germany won both of those encounters to knock England out, and Lahm is confident his team would have the fortitude to step up again if the game goes the full distance.

The Bayern Munich full-back 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."

England striker Jermain Defoe, whose recent record for Tottenham is not that great - he has missed six of the last 11 - says he is ready for the challenge of spot-kicks.

"There is pressure, but it is a nice pressure because if you score you know it means so much to everyone at home and it is helping the team achieve something special," he said.

"We have been practicing pretty intensely. We aren't doing the walk from halfway but there is still pressure because all the lads are standing there. If you miss you are going to get a little bit of banter.

"But most of it is in the mind. Sometimes great players look different to when they play for their club but it's important to be confident.

"When you are scoring goals it seems like the easiest thing in the world. When you aren't it's the hardest thing. You take an extra touch or snatch at chances."