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England over-75s captain Geoff Martel prepares for the match against Germany

Geoff Martel, captain of the England over-75s, prepares for a significant match against Germany, which will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup final.

England over-75s captain Geoff Martel has described the upcoming match against Germany, which will mark the 60th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup final, as the most important of his career. Martel, 81, will lead his team, nicknamed the Silver Lions, at Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park stadium on July 30. Not only will it be a match that celebrates the 60th anniversary of England's 4-2 victory at Wembley, but the match also comes nine months after the Veterans World Cup, where Martel's team finished second, beaten by Germany. Martel, originally from Guernsey, said he was confident his team would "give a good account" of themselves. “There are still a lot of things we need to do before the game, like making sure we are all fit,” Martel told BBC Radio Guernsey. "Two years ago we played against them in Cardiff at one of our tournaments and beat them in the semi-final. Then when we played against them in Japan, they were much better, because apparently there were several former Bundesliga players in their group." Martel added that the Germans will want to "cause an upset" and has already had contact with their coach. "We had a video call on Zoom and it was clear that he also cares a lot about this match, in fact, like me, he considers this the most important match he has ever participated in." Although it will be an actual 90-minute match, Martel said the physical demands of the match cannot be compared to those that teams competing in the 2026 World Cup will be subjected to. "Tournament football is incredibly difficult," he said. "They are lucky because we don't have physiotherapists and people who work behind the scenes like they do, but even so it's all very difficult. We, on the other hand, were lucky because we managed to keep the players together and I think we have a very good group."

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