USA using famous England giant-killing and Chariots of Fire music as inspiration

United States defender Walker Zimmerman has warned England that the Americans will use the biggest shock in World Cup history as their inspiration on Friday night.

The USA's 1-0 victory over a Three Lions team that included Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Alf Ramsey and Billy Wright in Brazil 72 years ago is still regarded as the tournament's greatest giant-killing.

England's only other World Cup meeting with America also ended in frustration, with Fabio Capello's side held to a 1-1 draw with South Africa in 2010 despite having Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry in the line-up. And Zimmerman, who loves to listen to the music from Chariots of Fire before games to motivate himself, insists that the United States are never more dangerous than when they've been written off.

Zimmerman said: "I think that's only fair for them to believe that they will win the group - but it doesn't always work out according to form. We expect that from ourselves as well. So it's gonna be a really entertaining group, with lots of matchups to look forward to.

"And I don't think it's gonna be easy for anyone, to be honest. For sure, we can look on those two moments when the US has played England before at the World Cup. It adds to our competitive spirit.

"I think Americans really thrive on being the underdogs. We have a young team that has a lot of guys with very little World Cup experience. But we don't see that as an obstacle. We see it as another challenge to be embraced. We will go into the game saying 'no-one can handle our youth, they can't handle our energy, they can't handle our passion for the game.'

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"And we can look on those two past results and say 'we've been the underdog before. No problem.' We're ready to do that again if that's how they want to view us."

England opened the World Cup by thrashing Iran 6-2, just hours before the USA suffered a set-back when they were pegged back by a late Gareth Bale penalty in a 1-1 draw with Wales.

Back in 1950, Joe Gaetjens scored the goal in Belo Horizonte to shock the world. Born in Haiti, Gaetjens only moved to the States to study accounting at Colombia University, but became the hero of a team that included a hearse driver, school teacher, postman and several dishwashers.

Georgia-born Zimmerman, 29, who plays for Nashville in the MLS, has won 34 caps for his country. He is looking forward to locking horns with Harry Kane if the England captain can shake off an ankle injury sustained against Iran.

And he may even watch Chariots of Fire as part of his preparations. Zimmerman said: "I watched that movie when I was a kid - and, you know, I still always watch it. Anytime I hear the music, it's an inspiration.

"It's a soundtrack that can kind of go on in the back of my head, the beginning of a game or something and gets me fired up a little bit. I think it's gonna be physical with Kane, for sure. It's two big guys, going at it.. Two ultra-competitive personalities who are not going to back down from each other.

"I know Kane is a super talent, who has had a tremendous career. But again, it's something that's a measuring stick for me and I'm certainly not gonna be backing down from it."

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