Lampard: Germany tie will be huge

The England midfielder predicts the last 16 clash with their arch rivals will be the tie of the next round.

Jermain Defoe, the England striker, centre, tests Samir Handanovic in the Slovenia goal.

PORT ELIZABETH // Having snubbed the opportunity to visit Robben Island, the notorious South Africa prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years, after Friday's insipid goalless draw with Algeria, England got out of World Cup jail with a narrow victory over Slovenia last night. After a stuttering start to the tournament, England's win secured second spot in Group C and a clash against Germany, the Group D winners, in the next round. Frank Lampard predicted the last 16 clash with their arch rivals will be the tie of the next round. "Germany will be a huge glamour game that the nation will take to their hearts. All I do is believe that if we play like we did today and keep improving then we have a chance," said the midfielder. Fabio Capello, the England coach, was just relieved to qualify. "It was important to win and we won. The spirit was back and the performance of the team was very good. We created a lot of chances to score the second goal, but we suffered in the final minutes." Capello, heavily criticised in the British press following England's lacklustre start to the competition, made three changes to the side that was so toothless against the North Africans and two of those players linked up to put England ahead in the 22nd minute. Gareth Barry fed James Milner, selected ahead of Aaron Lennon, out on the right wing, and the Aston Villa midfielder curled in an inviting cross that Jermain Defoe, who was preferred to Emile Heskey, shinned home. On a pitch that cut up badly, England, wearing red, smelled blood. Defoe, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, the England captain, all had first-half chances to double England's advantage, but found Samir Handanovic, the Slovenian goalkeeper, in exceptional form. Slovenia had played England only once previously, a 2-1 friendly loss at Wembley last year. Perhaps recalling the closeness of that encounter, Capello spent most of the match pacing anxiously around the England technical area. An injury to Rooney, who was substituted in the 72nd minute, marred England's victory, but Capello revealed he expects the Manchester United striker to recover for Sunday's game. "I'll have to wait for the doctor, but I think he will be OK for the next game," Capello said. As the full-time whistle blew, Slovenia, despite the loss, thought they had progressed in second place. However, an injury-time goal from Landon Donovan handed the United States a 1-0 win over Algeria and eliminated the east Europeans. "The feeling is indescribable," said Matjaz Kek, the Slovenia coach. "I wish the US-Algeria game had finished at the same time as ours, but this is sport and I hope this will be a positive experience and our squad will benefit. It was a difficult game, England played well, but at the very end we could have also levelled." That chance, which fell to Milivoje Novakovic, was blocked by Matthew Upson - the third of Capello's replacements to excel. A Novakovic goal, combined with the US's last-gasp winner, would have eliminated England, but as it was they held on to second place. Lampard, the Chelsea midfielder, was releived to have progressed following the poor display against Algeria. "Finishing first or second in the group didn't really matter, all the teams are strong at this stage," Lampard said. "The games can't always be brilliant. The important thing is how you react with determination and spirit on the pitch - we all showed what we can do. "The bonus now is an extra day's rest, but with the way we played today we can afford to worry about ourselves rather than who we are playing."After scoring only two goals in three group games, Lampard said England would be putting in extra work on that aspect of their game in training. "It was a lot more positive today, we could have scored more goals and we want to improve on that, we'll keep working on it. We need to improve on our goalscoring if we want to go far," he said. Slovenia, with a population of just over two million, were the smallest nation at the tournament and Kek said his players had given hope to the next generation. "I hope these players will be role models for [those] who might play for Slovenia in the future," he said. [e-mail]