David James insists England will go out to beat Germany in 90 minutes as they attempt to dodge more penalty misery.
The old enemies go head-to-head in the second round of the World Cup on Sunday, with England fans fearing another shootout.
The Germans possess an awesome reputation on penalties and England have suffered two doses of spot-kick hell against their rivals - in the 1990 World Cup and at Euro 96.
On the fence: James insists England are looking to win in 90 minutes - but they'll be ready for penalties
Fabio's No 1: James faces the media today
'The intention for us is to win the game in 90 minutes,' he said. 'If it requires extra time and then if it goes to penalties, there's an opportunity for Germany to miss so we're ready.
'Germany are a decent outfit but we've got the confidence of having gone to Berlin a couple of years ago and beaten them 2-1.'
James said that England would 'do their homework' on German penalty taking, as they had done for the group games.
'We've had videos on the three sides we've played already,' he said. 'I was hoping Slovenia might have had a penalty in the last minute and I'd get a chance to save it.'
James
was between the sticks when Portugal beat England in a quarter-final
shoot-out at the European Championship six years ago, but he intends to
be better prepared this time around.
'The key issue we have is the homework,' he stressed. 'In Euro 2004, when we played Portugal, we didn't have the access to the information that perhaps we should have done with regards to likely takers.
Spot of bother: James concedes the winner taken by Portugal keeper Ricardo in the Euro 2004 quarter-final
'Realistically in a shoot-out you're going to face at least five outfield players and we'll do our homework on as many as possible. That will be done, but we're not going into the match with the intention of winning on penalties.'
However, he joked that he and fellow goalkeepers Robert Green and Joe Hart couldn't stop too many spot-kicks in training for fear of crushing the confidence of their outfield team-mates.
'It's a bit difficult for the keepers because if we save too many, it doesn't give our strikers confidence,' he said. 'So it's a bit more difficult for us.'
James says there must be no regrets about missing out on top
spot in Group C, which would have set up a last 16 tie with Ghana and a
potentially easier route to the final. Victory on Sunday is likely to
lead to a quarter-final with Argentina, while a bigger win against
Slovenia would make South Korea or Uruguay their last eight opponents.
It's in my hands: David James is counting down to the clash with Germany
In fact, the bullish 39-year-old insists he is thrilled to have set up a 'romantic' tie against a side who have been rivals on and off the pitch for so long.
'I'm delighted for England as a nation that we've got a chance to play Germany,' he said. 'It gives everyone at home the opportunity to enjoy a great football match and what will hopefully be a good win against Germany.
'If you look at the potential road to the final, the idea of beating Germany is romantic - and it's an achievable goal,' he said. 'And it will bring on another match which will have its own historical significance.'
Practice makes perfect: Green saves in training as James and Joe Hart look on
However, he insisted that the players would not get swept up in the occasion and suffer the detrimental consequences.
'It's another football match,' he said. 'Obviously there'll be a lot of external references and whatever else, historical references. But for us it's a game against a decent outfit - one we have to win to progress.
'Our preparation is for a squad of 23 players and whatever they've got to offer in strengths and weaknesses.
'We can't do anything about what happened (in the group stage). 'We look back at the America game and the performance of Tim Howard which prevented a win.
'Algeria are very difficult to score against, and then we did what we needed to against Slovenia on Wednesday.'
Flashback: Stuart Pearce misses in the shootout against West Germany in the 1990 World Cup semi-final
James started between the posts
against
Algeria and Slovenia after Robert Green's howler gifted Clint Dempsey an
equaliser for America in the opener, and the England No 1 is pleased to
have finally grasped his chance at his third World Cup.
'When the squad was announced and the
numbers
issued it was more of numerical thing than a suggestion of the first
XI,' said the oldest player at the finals.
'True to Mr Capello's previous
selection
process, he must have gauged something in training and felt Robert was
the right goalkeeper to start with. I'm happy with that.
'I'm part of a squad. This World Cup isn't about David James - it's about England being successful. I trained as well as I could, got the chance to go back in and I'm happy.'