England announce friendly clash with Germany

England: Will play Germany

England: Will play Germany

The Football Association have announced that England will travel to Germany for a friendly in Dortmund on March 22.

The match will be England’s opening fixture of 2017 and could be the first of a new manager’s reign, should interim boss Gareth Southgate not be retained.

Southgate has two games left on his temporary deal, a World Cup qualifier against Scotland and a Wembley friendly versus Spain in November.

 

The fixture, which will be the national team’s first trip to Dortmund, will come almost a year after the rivals last locked horns, with England securing an injury-time 3-2 victory in Munich on March 26 this year.

Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier were all on target in the game, which raised English hopes of glory at Euro 2016.

Instead, they crashed out to Iceland in the last 16 and have since lost Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce, after one match, as managers.

Southgate has taken four points from his first two games in charge of the national side but has been coy about his designs on a permanent deal.

England have played friendlies against Germany in 2007, 2008 and 2013, losing two and winning one, as well as their 4-1 thrashing at the 2010 World Cup.