Five classic clashes between England and Germany

Joachim Low will be hopeful his German side can repeat their 2010 World Cup performance against England

England and Germany’s clash on Tuesday night is sure to bring back some fond memories for both side. Ever since their first friendly in 1930, games featuring England and Germany have always been tense encounters. Although the rivalry is more thought of, on the English side, one cannot deny that there have been plenty of classic encounters between the two sides.

Gary Lineker once said “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” Whilst this was certainly a tongue in cheek comment, England did hold the upper hand in the encounters between the two sides early on. Of late, it has been the Germans all the way. From England’s bright start in the 30′s to the infamous 4-1 mauling at the 2010 World Cup, via the ill-advised Nazi Salute after England’s 6-3 demolition of Germany in Berlin, there have been plenty of classic encounters. Let us take a look at five of those classic encounters.

England 3-0 Germany December 1930, London, Friendly

The build up to the game was more about politics than about the game itself. Although this was England’s 200^th game, it was the first full international game taking place between the two sides ever since Hitler and the Nazis rose to power in 1933. There was even reports that the game could be used as a propaganda by the Nazi regime as The Observer reported protests made by the British Trades Union Congress.

However, amidst all the hoopla surrounding the match at White Hart Lane, the game itself wasn’t much of a contest as England won 3–0. After the game, the same newspaper reported that it “failed to recall an international engagement played with such good manners by everybody.” And even in the midst all the politics surrounding the game, the game itself was one that was played in a sporting manner and all the players oozed sportsmanship of the highest order.

Germany 3-6 England May 1938, Berlin, Friendly

If the previous encounter between the two sides was all about politics off the pitch, this one had politics on it as well. In what was the last game for England against a unified German team until the 1990s, the game played at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin is one that will be remembered for the controversy before the kick-off.

Before a ball was kicked, the English players were ordered by the Foreign Office to line up and perform a Nazi salute in front of Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels. After that however, it was one way traffic as England thrashed Germany with Jackie Robinson scoring a brace and five other players including Sir Stanley Matthew scoring. However, as German writer Ulrich Linder, author of the book Strikers for Hitler put it: “To lose to England at the time was nothing unusual because basically everybody lost to [them] at the time. For Hitler the propaganda effect of that game was more important than anything else.”

England 4-2 West Germany (AET) July 1966, Wembley, FIFA World Cup final

Bobby Moore lifts the World Cup trophy as other English players join in with the celebrations

Arguably the most high profile meeting between the two sides, this victory remains greatest ever accomplishment and one that was meant to assert their dominance and superiority for years to come. The game itself was one for the ages. West Germany opened the scoring in 12^th minute and all it did, was spark England into life as Geoff Hurst scored the first of his three goals barely a few minutes as clawed their way back into the game.

When England scored again towards the end of the game, many thought that that was it. But a 90^th minute goal from Germany meant that the game went into extra time, where two controversial goals from Geoff Hurst sealed his hat-trick and England’s first and only World Cup till date. After the final whistle blew, there were scenes of jubilation, that haven’t been seen since. This was the peak for England as their record against the Germans slowly slipped away and have beaten the Germans only twice in competitive games since.

England 2-3 West Germany (AET) June 1970, León, FIFA World Cup QF

By the time the quarter finals came around, West Germany had finally managed to beat England for the first time, in a friendly in 1978. The Germans were determined to redeem themselves after their defeat in the Final last time around and were struggling to take the game to England as they were down 2-0 with barely a half of the game to play. However, the Germans stormed back into the game thanks to goals from Beckenbauer and Uwe Seeler which levelled the score at 2-2 with just eight minutes left on the clock.

And by the time Gerd Muller scored in extra-time, England had a Geoff Hurst goal mysteriously disallowed. Spirited as the German comeback was, England were without their No.1 Gordon Banks and also had to substitute their best player Bobby Charlton and were severely depleted by the time Muller scored the winner. That win marked the start of two decades of Germany’s dominance and England’s decline.

England 1 West Germany 1 (AET) (West Germany win 4-3 on penalties ) July 1990, Turin, FIFA World Cup SF

Not many expected England to make it to the semifinals of the World Cup in 1990. But, they did and came up against a strong German side managed by Franz Beckenbauer. Up until the game, England didn’t play too well, but against the Germans, they looked inspired and even though they went a goal down on the hour mark, they equalized in the 80^th minute thanks to a Gary Lineker goal, which sent the game into extra-time.

It was here that David Platt had a goal ruled out, which meant that the game went into a penalty shoot-out, making it the first time England had been involved in a shoot-out. With the first seven kicks all being converted, Stuart Pearce stepped up to level the score at 4-4, but he missed, which meant that it was advantage West Germany. But, after the next spot kick was saved, Chris Waddle had the opportunity to send the game into sudden death, but he missed and England lost the game, whilst West Germany went onto beat Argentina in the final and claim the World Cup.