Manchester City star Raheem Sterling was full of praise for England midfield duo Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips.
The two defensive midfielders put in a tremendous shift to deny time and space to Germany's creatie players, as England pulled off a 2-0 round of 16 win at Wembley on Tuesday.
England will now take on Ukraine in the quarter finals in Rome, as they hope to win their first major tournament since 1966.
Sterling, who scored the first of England's two goals, had special praise for Rice and Phillips post-game.
“We knew the intensity we could play at, not a lot of teams can deal with it," Sterling told the BBC post-game.
“We kept going, the two boys in midfield, Declan Rice and Phillips, they were class.
"They ate up ground and they were just animals in there. All around, a great team performance."
“I celebrated then for half a second though, let it not be offside!" Sterling added.
“Just really happy it went in and really happy we got the win."
