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England beat Germany 3-2 in international friendly

Xinhua, March 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

World champions Germany lost 2-3 to England after giving away a 2-0 lead on home soil at Berlin Olympia stadium on Saturday.

Germany dictated the pace for more than sixty minutes and established a 2-0 lead through Toni Kroos and Mario Goetze. However, England turned the tides in the second half thanks to the goals by Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier.

The hosts took the reins from the kick-off and pressed England into the defence. Mats Hummels had the first chance to open the scoring after a rebound but goalkeeper Jack Butland denied the defender from very close range in the 10th minute.

Sixteen minutes later, Mario Gomez overcame Butland after Sami Khedira's pass into path but Gomez' goal cancelled due to an offside position. The "Three Lions" lacked in penetration meanwhile Germany broke the deadlock with two minutes remaining in the first half. Toni Kroos had all time and space to drill a low shot from outside of the box into the bottom left from the edge of the box.

After the restart, Germany started where they left off as Mario Gomez doubled the lead after making use on a pinpoint cross by Khedira at the 57th minute. Germany's 2-0 lead was a wakening call for the visitors as Harry Kane capitalized on a rebound following a corner to reduce the arrears into the far post corner from inside the box four minutes later.

England gained momentum and levelled the scores in the 74th minute after Jamie Vardy's back heel effort beat Germany custodian Manuel Neuer into the near post corner following a cross by Nathaniel Clyne.

The match was far from over as England's Dele Alli missed the empty goal from close range in the 84th minute before Erik Dier nodded home the 3-2 lead to stun Germany in the dying minutes of the extra time.

"One can say that England deserved the victory today. It is of course annoying if you give away a 2-0 advantage," Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

Germany face Italy for the next friendly meanwhile England host the Netherlands on Tuesday. Endi