Terry: Celebrates with fellow goalscorer Upson
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England claim late victory in Berlin
A superb late header from skipper John Terry gave England a much-deserved 2-1 friendly international victory over Germany in Berlin.
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The skipper's 86th-minute winner was just reward for a fine performance from Fabio Capello's side, which was deprived of many of it's first-choice stars in the Olympic Stadium.
Terry's central defensive partner Matthew Upson gave the visitors a first-half lead before a shocking mix-up at the back allowed German substitute Patrick Helmes to grab a second-half equaliser.
Capello handed a debut to Gabriel Agbonlahor, who lined up in attack with Jermain Defoe, and the strike duo were in the thick of things from the beginning, their pace and industry causing the Germans problems at the back as England made an assertive start.
It was from a set-piece however that Upson gave the visitors their deserved lead in the 24th minute.
German keeper Rene Adler made a mess of dealing with a superb Stewart Downing right-wing corner, completely misjudging the flight of the ball, and the West Ham defender was quickest on the scene to poke home from inside the six-yard box.
A set-piece at the other end gave Germany their first and only chance of the first half as Heiko Westermann sneaked in between Terry and Upson to meet Bastian Schweinsteiger's free-kick on 33 minutes, but the Schalke man was off-target with a header from 15 yards.
England meanwhile continued to look confident and comfortable in possession and they nearly established the two-goal lead their performance deserved when Downing's rasping drive from 20 yards was well parried by Adler shortly before the break.
Darren Bent was introduced for Defoe at half-time while Scott Carson replaced Defoe's Portsmouth team-mate, David James, in goal.
Bent wasted a wonderful opportunity to double the visitors' lead in the 63rd minute when he lost his footing after rounding Germany substitute keeper Tim Wiese, and succeeded in missing the target completely with the goal at his mercy.
It was a let-off for Germany, and only a minute later, they profited from more good fortune to grab a barely-deserved equaliser.
Terry and Carson left a long-ball over the top for each other, and as the England pair waited for the other to take control of the situation, Helmes nipped in to poke the ball through the keeper's legs and roll the ball into an empty net.
It was a calamitous goal to concede but England immediately set about getting their lead back, with Agbonlahor's drive narrowly wide of the target and Downing's free-kick well saved by Wiese.
Shaun Wright-Phillips struck the post with a superb drive from outside the box with 11 minutes remaining but with England's fine performance looking unlikely to be rewarded with a win, Terry rose to meet Downing's free-kick and the skipper made up for his earlier mistake by planting a header past Wiese, which found the net via the inside of the post.
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Your Comments
KAM786 (Liverpool fan)
"A truely magnificent performance. Well done boys. This comes to show that Fabio Coppello is one of the best managers in the world. Coppello has installed a much needed discipline, confidence and self belief in the squad. All those players last night couldn't do anything under McClaren and now all of a sudden have beaten Germany in their own back yard! All without most of the top players. If all the boys can stay injury free and keep club vs country war aside theres no reason why we cant win the 2010 World Cup. I know people are going to laugh at me for this comment! But think back to Liverpools Champions League victory in 2005. We become European Champions with players like, Egor Biscan, Milan Baros, Vladimer Smicer, Dmitri Troari!! If Rafa could use those players then why can't Coppello and England win the World Cup 2010? England has a quality squad compared to the Liverpool squad of 2005! Nothing is impossible. If we get behind the boys then I believe we have a very good chance of Winning the World Cup 2010."
mcclarko (Birmingham City fan)
"well played lads.....but seriously how on earth is scott carson ahead of rob green in the pecking order???!!!
even baggies and villa fans i know say that he's pants!"
jon_los (Leeds United fan)
"first england game i have seen i while and i was glad when i heard regulars were out. a chance for others to impress and they did upson was solid it will be hard to edge out rio or terry but he definatly gave capello something to think about, glen johnson played well getting forward and staying back, bridge had a few weak moments could have done better as one of the more senior members, terry- a case of miscommunication for the german goal but a fantastic leader and as always put himself on the line to win. the wingers did well i have always had a doubt over downing but with less high profile more workmanlike center midfielders he was free to play and he and swp both made some god runs and passes. barry and carrick were solid, controlling and deserve credit for their displays, up front agbonlahor looked lively bent made some good runs i thought the keeper caught his foot which put him off balance for the "sitter" i hope the next couple of friendlies will be played in a similar asion i would have liked to see ashley young given a bit more time and maybe bullard get a run out. and germany are world number 2 so well done england."
wheater31 (Middlesbrough fan)
"hope now you begin to realise how good downing is. give him a place in a team where hes allowed to do what he's good at, rather than being told just to give the ball to gerrard or lampard or rooney and he can run the show. just like he did against trinidad and tobago too."
ronnieflex (Arsenal fan)
"ofc it was deserved, teamtalk is british..."
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