Southgate impressed by adaptable England despite Germany loss

Lukas Podolski will captain injury-hit Germany on his farewell worldwide appearance in Wednesday’s friendly against England, head coach Joachim Loew has confirmed.

Podolski was handed a farewell game to mark the end of a career spanning 13 years that saw him claim 49 goals against England on Wednesday – a game in which he fittingly scored the victor.

It was the ideal moment for Lukas Podolski – who was signing off from the German global team last night in his 130th appearance – and speaking after the game, Gareth Southgate branded the goal a “fairytale goal” while also praising his side’s performance.

The 31-year-old Manchester United striker was left out of Southgate’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly and Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Lithuania as he recovers from a leg injury, coupled with a lack of recent playing time for his club.

Apart from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and the back line, Podolski and midfielder Toni Kroos were the only experienced internationals on the pitch for Germany. And the one bit we missed was the finish.

After it, Hart was pictured speaking to Podolski on the edge of his box.

“Dear god, or someone else, gave me a strong left foot and I used it tonight”.

Regardless of the rationale behind the omission this time around, whether Rooney will be at the World Cup next year remains a big question. “We achieved both of those things, but I don’t like losing and neither do the players”, he said.

It was a mixed night for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, who showed his tactical nous with a change of formation to 3-4-3 but ultimately ended up on the losing side.

And, while placing it in this context, it worked well enough and integrated the excellent Michael Keane to such an extent it certainly gave Southgate food for thought.

“That was a good learning experience for them, but I am very pleased with what we learned, the manner of the performance”.

England could have done better with a few of their chances, especially in the first half; Lallana, Dier, and Dele Alli all came marginally close to finding an opener. “We should have had the game won, really, but I am very pleased with what we did”. They need to be able to go there and play with freedom.

“It was for a reason, it was to play against the world champions who have been together since I played in the under-21s all them years ago”.

“We wanted to put on a performance with passion and desire that reflected that, we haven’t got the win we would have liked, but people can see the commitment of the players”.