England's summer tour continued with this, their first-ever meeting with East Germany. They suffered a real blow before the match when Jimmy Greaves dropped out of the side with tonsillitis. Liverpool's Roger Hunt came in as his replacement and did very well.

The visitors made a sluggish start to the game and the Germans took a first-half lead. Peter Ducke, their roving centre-forward, rounded Maurice Norman and Jimmy Armfield cleverly but could get in only a weak shot. Somehow, though, Gordon Banks misjudged it and allowed the ball to go under his body and into the net, a rare mistake from the goalkeeper.

Twice England nearly scored as they fought back well. Bobby Smith was onlu just wide with a shot from the edge of the German penalty area, leaving goalkeeper Fritzsche rooted to the spot. Then George Eastham made a fine run which ended with a 25-yard drive which struck a post. On the stroke of half-time, however, England finally scored the goal their play deserved. It was a real beauty too.

The always dangerous Terry Paine made the opening  and when his pass came inside Hunt met the ball on the run to hit a ferocious shot from 20 yards that flashed past Fritzsche before the goalkeeper could move.

After the break, England continued to make all the running as they took control of the match. Gordon Milne and Eastham worked hard and as the East Germans began to tire, England found more and more chances came their way. Paine had his marker, Krampe in all sorts of trouble with his trickery and the Southampton winger seemed able to pass him at will. Bobby Charlton, on the leftalso had a good game and it was he who gave England the lead and ultimate victory.

A scramble developed in the German penalty area as Paine tried a shot from ten yards out. The shot was charged down and Smith then tried desperately to get to the loose ball, only to fall over the goalkeeper in his haste. Still the ball ran loose and this time Charlton was there to hammer home a shot from six yards.

Banks had to make some good saves in this half as the Germans tried to come back but he was not altogether convincing as he mishandled some seemingly harmless shots. Ray Wilson was his usual immaculate self and Armfield played well upon his return to the team.

It was another excellent victory, although manager Alf Ramsey was not over-impressed. "Our passing was erratic and careless," he said, "And we lacked a good deal of urgency in our play."

Mr. Ramsey, it seemed, was a perfectionist.
  

Roger Hunt, playing in place of tonsillitis-victim Greaves, scored a spectacular equalizer from thirty yards after Banks had conceded a soft goal midway through the first-half. Bobby Charlton netted the second-half winner after a series of goalmouth misses against an outpowered East German team. An England victory in Germany would have had most managers singing their own praises, but Alf Ramsey proved he was a perfectionist expecting the highest standards when he said: 'Our passing was erratic and careless and lacking in imagination. We can, and will, do much much better.' But he stored in the back of his mind that England could function - and win - without Jimmy Greaves.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG