New Delhi: A late John Terry goal handed England victory over Germany in Berlin after Patrick Helmes had pounced on a Scott Carson error to cancel out Matthew Upson’s opener.
England arrived in Berlin, a city in which they had never lost to Germany, with the majority of the pre-match talk surrounding the players who had not travelled.
Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney cried off early before being joined by Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Theo Walcott on the sidelines.
Yet the injuries allowed England manager Fabio Capello to try a few different options with Gabriel Agbonlahor, Michael Carrick and Matthew Upson all handed the chance to impress.
Germany, meanwhile, were also suffering with Michael Ballack, Philip Lahm and Torsten Frings all missing and Joachim Low bringing Marvin Commper and Jermaine Jones into the first team.
However, it was the visitors who made the brighter start to the game and they were rewarded for their efforts mid-way through the first half.
A Stewart Downing corner from the right was completely missed by German stopper Rene Adler and the ball fell to Matthew Upson to poke home his first international goal.
The goal seemed to shake the Germans and they struggled to respond, creating little in the way of chances in an unusually lacklustre first half display.
England by contrast looked confident, with a nice balance to the side due to the presence of Wright-Philips and Downing on the flanks and with real pace up front in the shape of Defoe and Agbonlahor.
Joachim Lowe opted to change things at half-time sending on Marko Marin, Patrick Helmes and Tim Wiese whilst Capello brought on the in-form Darren Bent and Scott Carson with Defoe and James making way.
The home side began the second half slightly better but still failed to test Scott Carson in the England goal. Desperate to increase their attacking options Lowe then sent on Lucas Podolski just before the hour mark.
Yet it was the visitors who had the best chance of the second period and really should have doubled their lead just after the hour mark.
Barry slipped an intelligent ball through to Bent and the Tottenham Hotspur man rounded Wiese before slipping and sending his shot wide with the goal gaping.
Less than a minute later and England were made to pay.
A terrible misunderstanding between Carson and John Terry saw Patrick Helmes, nip in to grab the ball and slot home.
The goal gave England renewed vigour and they had their chances to regain the lead. Gabriel Agbonlahor coming close after being sent scampering into the area by Carrick but his fiercely struck shot was saved by Wiese at the near post.
Yet Germany seemed to sense the win and with Marin starting to cause problems and Westermann pushing forwards and an on song Helmes proving a handful, they began to dominate.
Yet with 10 minutes remaining England again might have scored again. Bent and Wright-Philips combining, and the Manchester City man bore down on goal before crashing a shot which Wiese did wonderfully well to tip onto his left-hand post.
Minutes later and England did have their goal. A free kick by Downing was whipped into the box where skipper Terry was on hand to head across goal and off the far post to hand England the win.
Germany: Adler (Wiese, 46); Friedrich (Tasci, 68), Mertesacker, Westermann, Compper (Schafer, 78); Schweinsteiger, Jones (Marin, 46), Rolfes, Trochowski; Klose (Helmes, 46), Gomez (Podolski, 57)
England: James (Carson, 46), Johnson, Upson, Terry, Bridge, Wright-Philips (Crouch, 94), Barry, Carrick, Downing, Defoe (Bent, 46), Agbonlahor (Young, 77)
Goals
1-2 Germany (Terry, 84)
1-1 Germany (Helmes, 63)
0-1 England (Upson, 23)
More from Goal.comComment: Dramatic World Cup night in AsiaComment: English football's most controversial image?La Liga team of the week: Round 11
Comments
0 comment