Germany 1 England 5 (2001)
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Germany 1 - England 5 was a football game held in Munich on September 1, 2001. It was a qualification match for the 2002 World Cup group match between Germany (home team) and England (away team) in which England defeated their rivals 5-1. Despite only being a qualification match, the game is widely considered to be one of greatest results in English footballing history, especially amongst fans of the English national football team. It is also regarded as one of the English football team's best perfomances under Swedish coach Sven-Göran Eriksson.
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[edit] Context
Germany and England have one of the fiercest footballing rivalries in Europe, which is felt particularly strongly by the English. The two sides have met on a number of important occasions in their footballing histories.
They had played in in the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, in which England had beaten West Germany (considered a predecessor to the modern German team by FIFA) 4-2 after extra time. West Germany then defeated England in the semi-final of the 1990 competition, this time on penalties. In Euro 96 Germany again defeated England in a semi-final on penalties. In the two years before the game, England had beaten Germany at Euro 2000, followed by a German win in September 2000 in the last ever match at England's home stadium of Wembley, before it was closed for redevelopment.
In the qualifying tournament prior to the game, Germany were clear group leaders. With only the group winners advancing directly to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the pre-game qualifying group table was:
| Rank | Team | Points | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany |
16 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| 2 |  England |
10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 |  Greece |
6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -5 |
| 4 |  Finland |
5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 |
| 5 |  Albania |
3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | -5 |
With three points for a win and a total of eight games played, a German victory would have confirmed their qualification and seen England competing with Greece and Finland for a place in the qualification playoffs. A draw (tie) would have resulted in Germany requiring just another draw from their final game, and England requiring two victories, a German loss and an improvement in their goal difference. Germany had lost just one of their previous sixty qualification games; and that had been in qualification for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. They had also been unbeaten at the Olympiastadion stadium since 1973. Indeed, The German Football Association were confident enough that they would qualify to arrange friendlies on the dates of the play offs.
[edit] First half
The match was an evening game, and began nervously, with both teams attempting to maintain possession. However, after just six minutes, Germany scored a goal. Oliver Neuville headed down a lofted pass into England's penalty area, and Carsten Jancker was able to tap the ball past David Seaman, England's goalkeeper.
However, the lead did not last long and after Michael Owen was fouled outside the German penalty area in the 12th minute, England were given a free kick. England captain David Beckham took the kick, which neither the attacking nor defending players managed to touch. However, Gary Neville was able to head the ball back into the penalty area, which Nicky Barmby headed down to Michael Owen, who volleyed the ball past Oliver Kahn.
Both teams then had chances during the rest of the first half, notably Sebastian Deisler for Germany; David Seaman and Oliver Kahn both made some good saves. Just before the end of the half, England got another free kick on the edge of the German penalty area, which was again taken by David Beckham. Though he failed to beat the German wall, he was able to cross the ball back into the penalty area. Rio Ferdinand headed it back to Steven Gerrard, who shot the ball into the corner of the German goal from 25 yards out.
[edit] Second half
Only three minutes after the kick-off of the second half, England scored again, through Michael Owen. David Beckham's cross found Emile Heskey, who headed the ball down to an unmarked Michael Owen, who hit the ball into right-hand corner of the net. Oliver Kahn managed to get a hand to the ball, but was unable to stop England claiming a 3-1 lead.
Although Germany were able to create further chances, it was England who struck again in the 66th minute. Steven Gerrard's successful tackle gave him possession, and he set up a great through ball for Owen, who sprinted into the box and fired the ball over Kahn's head to give England a 4-1 lead. This made Michael Owen the first England player since 1966 World Cup winner Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick against Germany.
England began to defend their heavy lead. However, in the 74th minute, they managed to extend it through a counter attack. Rio Ferdinand won the ball in defence and gave it to Paul Scholes. He progressed up the pitch through a one-two passing move with David Beckham. Scholes passed the ball to Emile Heskey, who sprinted past German defender Marko Rehmer and hit the ball low past Oliver Kahn to make it 5-1.
The final twenty minutes were quiet, with Germany beaten and England having no need to create any more chances. Some German fans left the game early in disgust, whilst the English celebrate their biggest victory since a 6-0 win over Luxembourg in 1999. It was England's biggest away win since 1993, when they had beaten San Marino 7-1. For Germany, it was the first time they had conceded five goals or more since a 6-3 defeat to France in 1958, and only the third time in their history that they had lost by four goals or more (though a 5-1 defeat was repeated against Romania in 2004).
[edit] Aftermath
The game proved a massive boost for England, whose confidence was high after beating their rivals. It caused a boost in popularity for manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, whilst it was a low point for the Germany national team, whose performances had been worsening since the mid 1990s. It also spawned the hit record 'England 5 - Germany 1' by The Business.
England beat Albania 2-0 in their next match just four days later, meaning that the two teams entered the final qualifying game with an equal number of points, though England now had a better goal difference. Neither team managed to win their final game, both drawing. This sent England directly through, whilst Germany went into the play offs, in which they defeated Ukraine to qualify for the World Cup.
In early 2002, a Channel 4 poll in Britain of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments placed this game second, one place ahead of the 1966 World Cup Final.
Ironically, the effort was all in vain, when at the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea, it was Germany who enjoyed more success, finishing second and therefore the most successful European team in the event, and also having the tournaments biggest win that year- an 8-0 rout of Saudi Arabia, with goalkeeper Oliver Kahn winning the Golden Ball and the first goalkeeper to ever do so in World Cup history. England were only able to reach the quarter-finals. However, both teams were knocked out by the winners Brazil.
[edit] Match statistics
- Attendance: 63 000
- Half Time: Germany 1 - 2 England
- Full Time: Germany 1 - 5 England
- Referee: Pierluigi Collina
- Referee's Assistants: Claudio Puglisi and Narciso Piscareta
- Fourth Official: Fiorenzo Treossi
[edit] Players
| England | Germany | |||||||||
| Number | Player | Goals | Yellow Cards | Minute substituted | Club | Player | Goals | Yellow Cards | Minute substituted | Club |
| 1 | David Seaman | Arsenal | Oliver Kahn | Bayern Munich | ||||||
| 2 | Gary Neville | Manchester United | Christian Wörns | 46th min | Borussia Dortmund | |||||
| 3 | Ashley Cole | Arsenal | Jorg Böhme | Schalke 04 | ||||||
| 4 | Steven Gerrard | 1 | 78th min | Liverpool | Thomas Linke | Bayern Munich | ||||
| 5 | Rio Ferdinand | Leeds United | Jens Nowotny | Bayer Leverkusen | ||||||
| 6 | Sol Campbell | Arsenal | Dietmar Hamann | 1 | Liverpool | |||||
| 7 | David Beckham | Manchester United | Marko Rehmer | Hertha BSC | ||||||
| 8 | Paul Scholes | 83rd min | Manchester United | Michael Ballack | 67th min | Bayern Munich | ||||
| 9 | Emile Heskey | 1 | 1 | Liverpool | Carsten Jancker | 1 | Bayern Munich | |||
| 10 | Michael Owen | 3 | Liverpool | Sebastian Deisler | Hertha BSC | |||||
| 11 | Nicky Barmby | 65th min | Liverpool | Oliver Neuville | 78th min | Bayer Leverkusen | ||||
| 12 | Gareth Southgate | Did not play | Middlesbrough | Jens Lehmann | Did not play | Broussia Dortmund | ||||
| 13 | Nigel Martyn | Did not play | Leeds United | Oliver Bierhoff | Did not play | AS Monaco | ||||
| 14 | Jamie Carragher | 83rd min | Liverpool | Gerald Asamoah | 46th min | Schalke 04 | ||||
| 15 | Owen Hargreaves | 78th min | Bayern Munich | Sebastian Kehl | 78th min | SC Freiburg | ||||
| 16 | Steve McManaman | 65th min | Real Madrid | Frank Baumann | Did not play | Werder Bremen | ||||
| 17 | Robbie Fowler | Did not play | Liverpool | Christian Ziege | Did not play | Tottenham Hotspur | ||||
| 18 | Andrew Cole | Did not play | Manchester United | Miroslav Klose | 78th min | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||||
