ENGLAND 3, GERMANY 3
England lifted the gloom surrounding their World Cup preparations with a spirited display against Germany in their final Nations League game.
It looked as though England would be heading to Qatar on the back of another defeat until they produced a grandstand finish.
Two goals down with 20 minutes left, England looked finished only to score three times in a sensational 12 minutes.
England, who had already been relegated from the top group in the Nations League, dared to believe they would register a first win in six games only for Chelsea’s Kai Havertz to dampen the mood with a late equaliser.
As one pundit wrote, there was plenty to be encouraged about, and worried about, for Gareth Southgate.
The positives are that England ended a run of three internationals without a goal for the first time since 2000.
The introduction of Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount midway through the second half injected energy and vitality to their attacking play – surely they have to be starters in Qatar.
The form of Manchester United’s Harry Maguire remains a worry as he was at fault for Germany’s first two goals.
And Nick Pope, deputising for the injured Jordan Pickford, was at blame for their third and his overall display was unconvincing.
Despite the encouraging signs, England head to the World Cup without a win in six games, their longest winless run since 1993.
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthgate said: “As a group they have really come together this week. It has been a tough period for team, but they have grown.
“To an extent we are always going to face pressure, so we need to be exposed to pressure. We played a friendly against Ivory Coast in March and they went to 10 men, and it became a non-event and we learnt nothing.
“This week we’ve learnt a huge amount. They’ve had to step forward and come together – it will benefit us in the long run.”
“Tonight, in the end, a couple of errors have cost us the goals but I’ll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven’t shown in the last few games. I thought the crowd saw that and rose to that.”
England captain Harry Kane said: “The boys have been under pressure with recent results, and we all came out here with a point to prove.
“There are lessons we can still learn from the mistakes we made, but we scored three goals and I feel like this will put us in a positive mindset ahead of the World Cup.”
And on the World Cup, Kane added: “We’re going to have to be ready come the start of the tournament. Major football tournament is different to any other football you play for England. The pressure is high, and the concentration has to be high and I feel like we respond well to that.
“We’ve upped our game as we’ve gone along in the last two major tournaments. We dust ourselves down, we know we have to improve, but there isn’t that much time now with England before that first game.
“We’ll go away with our clubs and hopefully everyone goes away fit, strong and is ready to come back in November.”
Southgate made two changes from Friday’s 1-0 defeat by Italy in Milan.
Kyle Walker dropped out for Manchester City team-mate John Stones, who returned from suspension, while Luke Shaw came in for Saka at left wing-back.
England again played with a back three with Stones being partnered by Eric Dier and Maguire.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney was on the bench and may make his England debut tonight.
Germany made four changes from their 1-0 defeat at home to Hungary on Friday.
West Ham’s Thilo Kehrer, Havertz, former England youth player Jamal Musiala and Nico Schlotterbeck came into the side.
Antonio Rudiger, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller and Timo Werner were the players to drop out.
Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan kept his place in the centre of midfield.
The Football Association marked the passing of Queen Elizabeth II with the laying of wreaths on the touchline, one by Sir Geoff Hurst.
It was followed by one minute’s silence with a darkened Wembley lit up by thousands of phone torches.
Germany had the first chance in the 11th minute stemming from poor control and clearance from goalkeeper Nick Pope, but Gundogan fired narrowly over.
England, second best for most of the opening 25 minutes, almost snatched the lead when Shaw’s through ball released Raheem Sterling who cut back and shot only for goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make a great save low to his right.
That was quickly followed by Kane’s volley flashing narrowly wide as Southgate’s side suddenly discovered some belief.
Stones’ injury woes continued as he limped off with a hamstring injury eight minutes before the break to be replaced by Walker.
Sterling had an angled shot saved shortly before the break and in stoppage time Germany’s Joshua Kimmich saw a drive flash just past the upright.
And Sterling remained England’s most potent attacking threat after the restart soon forcing another decent stop from der Stegen.
But it was Germany who made the breakthrough in the 52nd minute through a Gundogan penalty following a clumsy challenge by Maguire on Musial.
Dutch referee Danny Makkelie waved play on but was instructed by VAR to look at the pitchside monitor after which he pointed to the spot.
Germany almost scored a second when Werner, a half-time substitute, was put clean through but he pulled his shot narrowly wide.
England made a double chance mid-half as Sterling and Phil Foden made way for Mason Mount and Saka.
Moments later, England found themselves 2-0 down after Maguire was at fault again.
The centre back was dispossessed after he galloped into the Germany half as the visitors mounted a rapid counterattack which ended with Werner setting up Havertz who bent a shot from the edge of the box into the top corner.
England gave themselves a lifeline when they halved the deficit within five minutes as a diagonal ball from Jude Bellingham across the face of goal found Shaw free and he squeezed home a shot which was cleared by Niklas Sule, but only after it had cleared the line.
There was hope for England and they scored a second goal in four minutes from Mount as they suddenly came back from the dead to made it 2-2.
Saka made a terrific run and supplied the pass to Mount who bent home a terrific shot from 25 yards.
England thought the comeback was completed in the 82nd minute through a Kane penalty as they turned a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 lead.
As Kane’s shot flashed into the side netting – many in the ground thought it was a goal – VAR spotted a challenge by Nico Schlotterbeck on Bellingham and sent the referee to the pitchside monitor.
This time England benefited as they were awarded a penalty as Kane made no mistake from 12 yards.
But the unbridled joy was tempered as Germany made it 3-3 in the 87th minute.
Substitute Serge Gnabry’s drive was parried by Pope and Havertz slotted in the rebound.
England still had a great chance to win the game in the final minute of normal time when Saka broke from halfway and his shot was superbly turned round the post for a corner by ter Stegen.
Jordan Henderson replaced Bellingham in the first of six added minutes as England looked to strengthen their midfield.