England 1 Germany 2
22 August 2007
Attendance: 86,133
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| The arch is lit for the event |
England met traditional rivals Germany in their second friendly match at the new stadium on 22 August 2007. The fixture was a repeat of the World Cup 2002 qualifier in England’s last match at the old stadium in 2000, with Germany running out 1-0 winners from a Dieter Hamann goal. The match not only marked the end of an era at Wembley, but also the end of Kevin Keegan’s tenure as England manager, with his resignation coming shortly after the final whistle. The teams last met in Munich, again in a qualifier, in a match that no England fan will forget – a dramatic 5-1 win over the Germans.
As the English national anthem played, the England fans held up the message ‘Danke für 2006’ to thank the Germans for hosting a successful World Cup tournament last summer. David Beckham received a huge cheer from the crowd as the match began with an electric atmosphere. Both sets of fans were in good voice and demonstrated how powerful the stadium’s acoustics can be.
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| The England team celebrate Lampard's goal |
The England squad had been heavily hit by injuries in the run-up to the match, but the side started the stronger, enjoying good spells of possession. Under fire midfielder Frank Lampard broke the deadlock in the ninth minute, beating Jens Lehmann at his near post after some good work from Micah Richards down the right hand side. The goal marked Lampard’s first goal in an England shirt for more than a year.
Germany levelled on 26 minutes after a cross from Bernd Schneider hung under Paul Robinson’s crossbar. The keeper parried the ball out only to be met by Kevin Kuranyi’s foot and tapped in from close range.
Germany took the lead on the fortieth minute from an impressive long range strike from Christian Pander. England came close to levelling the score seconds later as Michael Owen’s header was saved, after going one on one with keeper Lehmann. England came close again as a Lehmann save rebounded onto Owen, who was unable to score from an acute angle.
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Robinson in the England goal |
After a few good chances in the second half, England came closest as a Beckham cross whipped across the face of the goal, but substitute Kieron Dyer failed to make contact. A trademark John Terry header was then headed off of the line, following a Beckham corner. England tested Lehmann again as substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips' shot was saved and some good defending from England limited any further scoring opportunities for Germany.
Wright-Philips was voted 'man of the match' as England’s first match against Germany at the new stadium produced the same outcome as the defeat in 2000. England’s next match will see the team returning to Wembley for the first of two back to back qualifiers for the Euro 2008 Championship. England play Israel on 8 September in a crucial match before playing Russia four days later.
England: 1 Paul Robinson (13 David James 46), 2 Micah Richards, 3 Nicky Shorey, 4 Michael Carrick (15 Gareth Barry 55), 5 Rio Ferdinand (12 Wes Brown 46), 6 John Terry (c), 7 David Beckham, 8 Frank Lampard, 9 Alan Smith (21 Peter Crouch 57), 10 Michael Owen (17 Kieron Dyer 57), 11 Joe Cole (18 Shaun Wright-Phillips 70)
Substitutes not used: 22 Scott Carson, 14 Steven Taylor, 16 Phil Neville, 19 Stewart Downing, 20 Jermain Defoe
Germany 1 Jens Lehmann, 3 Arne Friedrich, 6 Christian Pander, 15 Thomas Hitzlsperger, 16 Philipp Lahm, 17 Per Mertesacker, 19 Bernd Schneider (c) (35 Gonzalo Castro 90), 21 Christoph Metzelder, 22 David Odonkor (34 Roberto Hilbert 54), 28 Piotr Trochowski (38 Simon Rolfes 72), 31 Kevin Kuranyi
Substitutes not used: 12 Timo Hildebrand, 40 Serdar Tasci, 37 Patrick Helmes, 33 Stefan Kießling