A youthful and inspired England side resurged from sure defeat to take the friendly game against Germany by 3-2, offering hopes for the youngsters in the summer.
It was an exhilarating second half for the Three Lions as England had begun by conceding two goals from the Germans on either side of the break. Toni Kroos scored Germany’s first with a swerving shot that beat Jack Butland at his near post from outside the box.
Mario Gomez then doubled the lead at 57th minute with a header past substitute keeper Fraser Forster.
But England responded in style, as Harry Kane displayed tenacity and skill to hold a cross from the right corner, turns, evades two opposing players and slot in diagonally to the far corner 4 minutes later.
Then, at 71 minutes after play, Jamie Vardy equalized after being just subbed in for 3 minutes with an improvised back heel touch to flick in Nathaniel Clyne’s right wing cross into the German net.
The crowd in the Olympiastadion charged up with nervous energy as the game entered the dying minutes, as an energetic England chased after a winner relentlessly. Dele Alli missed a chance uncharacteristically over an exposed net, but his Tottenham teammate Eric Dier headed in Jordan Henderson’s corner.
This win against the World Cup winners had raised hopes for England’s Euro chances, as coach Roy Hodgson describes the win as his “finest night as England manager”. Still, he admits that there is work to ahead for the team.
“It is a friendly game and we have got an awful long way to go before we can claim to be anything like Germany with all they have achieved,” Hodgson said.
German midfielder Sami Khedira admits that Germany is in need of reflection after the defeat.
“We all need to take a look at ourselves and work hard now,” he said. “We did a lot right up until the second goal, then after that we were much worse – and England punished us.”
“However, we played well for an hour. We need to play well for 90 minutes against Italy [in Tuesday’s friendly] and in the European Championship.”