Don't worry about penalties - James

"The intention is to go there and win in 90 minutes," said James, whose words will come as a relief to England fans who have twice seen their side exit major tournaments to the Germans on spot kicks.

James also tried to downplay the significance of the World Cup last 16 meeting with England's old rivals and insists any romance surrounding the fixture has to "stay off the pitch."

But the 39-year-old has a quiet air of belief that England can avenge their 1990 World Cup and 1996 European Championship exits at the hands of Germany, both of which came via penalties.

The Portsmouth keeper said: "The winning of the World Cup is important, not just beating Germany, but we are confident.

"We have done what we need with regards to getting through and we know the match is romantic, but the romance has to be kept off the field.

"The possibilities beyond that could be interesting as well if we win on Sunday," James said of a possible quarter-final clash with Argentina.

"It then brings on another match which will have its own unique historical values. We want to win a game, get onto the next game and win that as well.

"In order to be successful in this tournament, you've got to beat the best teams. Germany are a decent outfit. They are one of the fancied teams in the tournament.

"But we won in Berlin two years ago and that is the intention again this time. The intention is to go there and win in 90 minutes."

James also believes that he will be better prepared than he was against Portugal in the 2004 European Championship should spot-kicks be required.

He failed to make a save when England were beaten on penalties by the host nation in Lisbon six years ago - a game in which an early injury to Wayne Rooney proved crucial.

James said: "After 120 minutes you go down to penalties and it's better than a toss of a coin, that's for sure.

"The Portugal match was a sad day for me because I didn't save any. You think: 'What if I had done this? What if I had done that?' We didn't have as much access to information as perhaps we could have done with regards to potential penalty takers.

"The technology we have now means you can do your homework. It doesn't guarantee you 100 per cent success but it gives you some idea. We didn't have that in Portugal. If it comes to penalties, hopefully we will be ready for them."

Germany coach Joachim Low admitted yesterday that there is a "major question mark" over the fitness of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Jerome Boateng ahead of the England game.

Bayern Munich midfielder Schweinsteiger and stand-in left-back Boateng sustained injuries in Wednesday's final Group D encounter against Ghana.

Schweinsteiger is struggling with a hamstring problem while Boateng is troubled by a calf strain.