Match Summary

Germany Team

England Team

Match Report by Mike Payne

There is never any International match between these two teams that could be described as ‘friendly’ and this competitive match certainly showed that.  It also showed the rapid strides the England team has made under the Italian coach Fabio Capello.  If there were still any doubters amongst the England fans that he is not the man for the job then most of those will have been dispelled by this fine win.

Funnily enough England beat Germany at their own game, and it was very satisfying to watch.  Pressing hard from the back, moving the ball swiftly and precisely in midfield and putting all the German defenders under pressure from start to finish, the England players carried out Capello’s tactical plan to the letter.  Both teams were missing several regulars in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, but England’s red shirted ‘second string’ certainly looked more equipped than their white shirted counterparts.

Michael Carrick and Gareth Barry quickly gelled in the midfield and England kept possession well, something Capello has been drumming into his players.  In the 23^rd minute their good play was rewarded with the opening goal, although from a German point of view it was not a good one.  Stuart Downing took a corner from the right and goalkeeper Rene Adler missed his attempted punch completely.  The ball hit debutant Gabby Agbonlahor and bounced to Matthew Upson who gleefully fired home his first goal for England.  Ten minutes later Germany should have equalised when Heiko Westermann completely messed up a header from Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick as England’s defenders lost concentration.  Dead ball situations seemed to be Germany’s only hope as their general play was very poor.  England, meanwhile, were playing well, so the visitors remained on top for the rest of the half and could have added to their lead on more than one occasion.

Agbonlahor was making a lively start to his England career and his pace and off the ball running gave the German defenders problems all evening.  He was desperately unlucky not to score on his debut after an offside decision ruled out a goal.  Glen Johnson was also impressive and if he plays his cards right he could make the problem right-back berth his own.  His surging runs down the right wing added a new element to England’s attacking options.

At half-time Capello decided to give Scott Carson another chance in goal, his first appearance since the Croatian debacle at Wembley a year ago, and the manager also brought on Darren Bent.  Unfortunately, both players managed to enhance their ‘reputations’ with clangers.  Carson’s was the more serious as his indecision, coupled with John Terry’s wrong decision, gave Germany an equaliser they barely deserved.  The incident came in the 63^rd minute as Terry tried to shield the ball back to his goalkeeper.  Neither player took command of the situation and Patrick Helmes was lurking, taking advantage by toe poking the ball through Carson’s legs to score what was a farcical goal.  But credit Carson who then made a good save from Marko Marin to prevent what would have been an unthinkable 2-1 lead for the Germans.

At the other end Bent had his ‘moment’ when he did well to round substitute keeper Tim Wiese only to fall over his own feet when it looked certain he would score.  That was a little embarrassing for the big Tottenham forward but England were still in the ascendancy despite this.  They knew that anything other than a win would be a travesty on the night and thankfully in the 84^th minute the skipper took a more decisive hand in matters.

Shaun Wright-Phillips had already seen a shot tipped onto a post as England tried to recover from the shock equaliser, and then, when Downing sent over a corner from the left Terry dived in bravely to head home what proved to be the winner.

England had played well, there was no denying that, no matter how poor this German side was, and Capello’s influence is really starting to take effect.  The team and the fans are now starting to look forward to the next game again, something that couldn’t be said a year ago.

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
SkySports.com
UEFA.com
Marcel Hoefsmit, Netherlands
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor

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CG