Kane and Vardy score, England defeat Germany

Despite being down 2-0 on the field of the reigning world champions, the "Three Lions" still triumphed thanks to consecutive goals from new names in the friendly match on the evening of March 26.

Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez scored to give Germany the lead at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second. That advantage seemed to inspire the reigning world champions to a resounding victory over their long-time rivals. But the surprise happened after that when England rose strongly.

Harry Kane, in his first start for England, showed he deserved the responsibility with a low, accurate shot. Jamie Vardy, the rising star and Leicester City phenomenon this season, equalized in the 74th minute, after a cross from Nathan Clyne. It didn't stop there, in the first minute of injury time, Eric Dier headed the ball accurately, sealing a 3-2 victory for the visitors.

The trio of Kane (right), Dier (middle) and Vardy (left) made a meaningful victory for the "Three Lions". Photo: Reuters.

Result in a friendly is usually of little value. But if one is looking for a big morale boost heading into Euro 2016, England had a very important harvest yesterday with their performance in Berlin.

This is the match where coach Roy Hodgson gave a chance to a series of young faces or those who have not had many opportunities to show themselves in the "Three Lions" shirt before, and these players all met expectations.

Harry Kane, in his first start as a striker in place of Rooney, scored. Jamie Vardy is no longer young, but also gave hope for the French summer when he came on for Welbeck and almost immediately scored his first goal in the national team shirt. Likewise, Eric Dier, who scored the winner in the 3-2, was only in his third appearance for the "Three Lions" and had never scored before.

He didn't score, but another name that left a strong impression in Berlin was Dele Alli. The 19-year-old Tottenham player has emerged in the Premier League this season and carried that impressive form into yesterday's match. He worked well with Kane, causing the German defence to go crazy on several occasions. If not for two classy saves from Neuer late on, Alli could have scored at least one goal in a match that saw him named Man of the Match.

Delle Ali inspired England's attack with his fast playing style and good coordination with Harry Kane. Photo: Reuters.

While the four names above, along with Ross Barkley, played very well as a conductor, bringing a strong vitality to the front line, the defense of the "Three Lions" more or less caused concern for Hodgson and England fans. Germany yesterday had a lot of personnel experiments and did not play up to the level of a world champion, but they still easily broke the defense of the "Three Lions" many times.

The central defender pairing of Gary Cahill and Smalling is not reassuring, especially in Cahill's position, who has been playing very well at club level. Hodgson is probably very impatient waiting for a fully fit John Stones to pair with Smalling.

After this match, England will meet the Netherlands in the next friendly on March 29.

England has a promising squad of young strikers. Photo: DM.

Line-up:

Virtue(4-2-3-1): Neuer; Can, Hummels (Tah 46mins), Rudiger, Hector; Khedira, Kroos; Muller (Podolski 75), Ozil, Reus (Schurrle 64); Gomez (Gotze 79)

Unused subs: Leno, Mustafi, Rudy, Ginter, Kramer, Draxler, Bellarabi, Volland, Ter Stegen, Trapp

Goals: Kroos 43, Gomez 57

Yellow card: Can

Older brother(4-2-3-1): Butland (Forster 45+1); Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Rose; Henderson, Dier; Lallana (Barkley 71), Alli, Welbeck (Vardy 71); Kane

Unused subs: Walker, Walcott, Stones, Jagielka, Milner, Drinkwater, Sturridge, Heaton

Goals: Kane 61, Vardy 75, Dier 90+1

Yellow card: Dier

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

According to VNE