Germany 2 - 3 England

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Germany 2 - 3 England . . (March 26 2016)

Eric Dier's dramatic stoppage-time header earned England a stunning 3-2 comeback win over world champions Germany in Berlin



England have enjoyed some memorable encounters against Germany and, while this may not have been as important as the 1966 World Cup final or as remarkable as the 5-1 win in 2001, it was a display few at the Olympiastadion will ever forget.

Harry Kane's exceptional strike and an even better Jamie Vardy flick saw a two-goal deficit extinguished, allowing Dier to complete a remarkable friendly victory.

This was an impressive performance that underlined the progress made since the dismal 2014 World Cup, although for a while it looked like Joachim Low's ruthless side would triumph thanks to Toni Kroos' strike from distance and Mario Gomez's second-half header.

Hodgson's inexperienced side rallied rather than wilted, though, with Kane producing a lovely Cruyff turn and strike to give the visitors hope in the 61st minute.

England's other in-form striker was not to be undone as minutes after his introduction Vardy marked his fifth cap with his first international goal, wonderfully flicking home at the near post.

Man-of-the-match Dele Alli wasted a glorious chance to win it for the Three Lions, but Tottenham team-mate Dier made amends by heading home in stoppage time.

It was an incredible end to a night that had begun edgily due to the high level of security at the Olympiastadion.

Germany were playing away to France when terrorists tried to enter the Stade de France and let off explosives in November, with their friendly at home to Holland just days later in Hannover called off due to a bomb threat.

This was their first match since then and following this week's attacks in Brussels spectators had to undergo security checks, bag searches and pat-downs.

The resulting large queues dissipated in time for the match, as did the hostility heard during the national anthems.

Sami Khedira, Gomez and Mats Hummels had chances during the opening stages, but it was far from one-way traffic in Berlin.

Gary Cahill's header towards goal in the opening minutes was just behind the threatening Kane and the returning Danny Welbeck fired over from the edge of the box.

A number of the visitors' attacking moves were breaking down late on and that looked set to cost them when Gomez broke through and fired across Jack Butland, only to be called offside.

England tried to capitalise as Jordan Henderson tried his luck from distance and then Kane hooked over on the turn.

The Premier League's top-scorer was proving a handful for the world champions and produced a lovely pass through to dithering Welbeck, whose blocked effort was followed by Adam Lallana flashing over.

England were playing with confidence, but their inability to score was punished by the world champions as Kroos was able to glide forwards before unleashing a low, left-footed strike from 25 yards that beat Butland at his near post.

The Stoke goalkeeper beat the ground in frustration, not only at being beaten but picking up an injury that saw him leave the field on a stretcher.

Fraser Forster came on in his place and was soon called into action to impressively tip over a Marco Reus free-kick.

Keen not to be outdone, Manuel Neuer stopped Alli's powerful drive sneaking into the bottom corner before Henderson saw a close-range effort blocked.

The hosts would strike the next blow, though, as Khedira was afforded too much time and clipped a lovely ball over to Gomez, who expertly steered a header past Forster.

It was a great goal that looked likely to end the fixture as a contest, only for Kane to halve the deficit.

A wonderful Cruyff turn, two days after the death of the Holland great, created space and gave the in-form Spurs striker the chance to impressively fire home past Neuer from an acute angle.

Teenage midfielder Alli was denied by Neuer's feet as England looked for a leveller which arrived in the most stunning of fashions.

Substitute Ross Barkley played the ball out wide to Nathaniel Clyne, whose low cross was turned home brilliantly by Vardy just minutes after coming on.

Henderson struck wide from distance as England threatened a winner, which Alli looked certain to get when Vardy's cutback left the impressive teenager with a gaping goal.

Somehow he shot over when the 4,100 visiting fans were expecting the net to bulge, but they could celebrate wildly in stoppage-time as Dier headed home a scarcely-believable winner.

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The Three Lions have lost just one of their last 18 internationals (W14 D3).

Harry Kane scored his first goal when starting for England; his previous three all came as a substitute.

Jamie Vardy has scored and assisted a goal in his last two sub appearances for England. His goal came 198 seconds after coming on.

England have now failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last seven games against Germany.

Germany scored with both of their shots on target v England.

Mario Gomez scored his first goal for the German national team since June 2012.

The last nine goals scored by England players for England have all come from different players (Dier, Vardy, Kane, Rooney, Alli, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barkley, Sterling and Walcott).

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Roy Hodgson may have enjoyed his best night as England manager in Saturday's thrilling victory over Germany but he admits he will now work to keep his players' feet on the ground.

The Three Lions came from two goals down to secure a memorable 3-2 victory in Berlin's Olympiastadion as Eric Dier headed in a last-minute winner after Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy got the visitors back into the contest.

Hodgson had named an inexperienced side with just 161 senior caps between them and, despite playing well in the main, they looked set to lose to the world champions after Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez goals put Germany in control.

But, instead of letting their heads drop, England rallied and Kane pulled one back with a smart finish on the hour - before substitute Vardy broke his England duck with a well-taken front-post flick.

And that was not to be the end of the drama as Dier headed in Jordan Henderson's corner just as the game ticked into stoppage time for his own maiden international goal.

It left Hodgson smiling, but the 68-year-old also spoke with caution as he addressed the media after the win.

"You always hope your best night's ahead of you," he said.

"I'm rather hoping there'll be one of them ahead of me. But best night so far? Yes, why not. I'll give you that one.

"It's important for us to remain humble in these moments. We've got an awful long way to go before we can claim to be like the Germans with what they've achieved in the last few years. But it was a great performance.

"It was good to see the players play their way back into the game. It showed character, but also a lot of quality in terms of our passing, poise and movement.

"I'm so pleased for the players and that we have carried on from where we left off against France in such a wonderful iconic arena against the world champions."

England lost Jack Butland to an ankle injury in the build-up to the first goal, with the Stoke goalkeeper unable to get down to Kroos' long-range effort as a result and was stretchered off immediately afterwards.

Fraser Forster replaced Butland, who will travel back with the squad with fears he has suffered ligament damage, but was soon picking the ball out of his net as Gomez rose to nod home Sami Khedira's cross.

But England rallied and Hodgson believes the comeback success can help build belief among the players - even if he remains keen to keep any new hopes in check.

"It certainly won't do it any harm, but it's a friendly match," he said when asked about the added belief the players can take.

"We must be careful attaching too much importance on it. Had we lost the game 3-2, and the Germans had scored late on, I wouldn't have been sitting here bitterly disappointed.

"I would still have been happy with the way the team approached the game and the progress the young players are making.

"We had a lot of debutants and inexperienced players out there. It's a good step forward, a moment of progression in the work we are doing with them, but we can still do things better. We have four more friendly games and two and a half months of work before we play the game that really will count, against Russia in Marseille.

"Those games in the autumn, Spain away and France at home, I thought then that if we could keep this group together and engender the right spirit and belief to have the confidence to go out and play their way out of trouble, we've got some players who could be very interesting for England in the future.

"What worries me now is that, while enjoying this night and admitting it's my best with England so far, I'm worried a lot of the criticisms we've had in the past will be forgotten and we'll be lifted up. This is a team that is definitely a work in progress.

"Let's keep these players' feet on the ground, keep them humble. Let's keep them hungry to learn from their mistakes."

Germany coach Joachim Low was upset with the performance from his side but admitted England had played well enough to deserve the win.

"All in all I can say it is absolutely annoying for a coach to see you team squander a 2-0 lead," he said.

"I think, having lost this game it is not entirely undeserved, even when we were 2-0 up we weren't as in control as I would like us to be, we had problems in our structure and didn't create too many chances - so England in a way deserved to win.

"if you ask me for conclusions to be drawn from this game there are some. This was a friendly match and they are all about showing us areas that need improvement and to be worked on."