Germany coach Joachim Loew fears Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney coming good for England in Sunday's massive World Cup playoff.

Germany began their World Cup campaign with a 4-0 thumping of Australia but needed Wednesday night's win against Ghana to take them through after losing their second game against Serbia 1-0.

Loew said: "I watched England's matches. In the first two they were struggling but that's quite normal, teams only pick up speed as they go through the tournament.

"They've not shown great form so far but make no mistake this is a fantastic team - Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney. It's going to be incredibly dangerous.

"Rooney may not have been a big gun so far but he is ready to explode, look what he did in the Champions League. Our defence will be hard pressed to make sure he doesn't score."