The Wembley pitch looked stunning as the two teams and the crowd showed their faultless tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it really was a memorable picture celebrating the life of a truly remarkable Monarch.

The match turned out to be a bit special too, although at half-time, all the doubts of recent games were still raising their ugly heads. It all started in a similar way to the Italy game, with Germany hustling England out of their stride, shutting them down at every opportunity. It was clear that Gareth Southgate had again opted for a defensive line-up, but also looking to break quickly when they had the chance. Germany had possession for much of the early stages, without creating too many problems for the England defence. Only England mistakes would gift the visitors their chances and once, when Nick Pope slipped, the goalkeeper was relieved to see a German shoot over the bar. That was followed by another dangerous error as John Stones almost sold Pope short with a backpass, but the keeper hacked that one away as a German forward pressed. At the other end Raheem Sterling was twice close to breaking through, but alas, both Harry Maguire and Harry Kane's passes failed to reach the Chelsea man.

Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice were working tirelessly to stem the possession of the Germans, and worryingly, the England defence was often at sixes and sevens, as the team tried to settle down to the job in hand. This they gradually did and on 25 minutes England should have been ahead. A fabulous pass from Luke Shaw gave Sterling a clear run at goal. When he shot goalkeeper, Marc-Andre der Stegan , saved well, when really he should have had no chance. A real let-off for the Germans and one wondered if England would regret that miss?

Two minutes later Kane tried a volley that whizzed past the far post with the keeper nowhere, and then after a spell of more German possession, Sterling had another fine chance which he again squandered. At times there were 9 England players defending, but they were still making chances at the other end, but just couldn't add the killer touch. Rice then broke from deep, but again the final pass has limited options and went astray. Meanwhile, Germany, with Ilkay Gundogan pulling the strings, were probing from side to side, trying to stretch England, who, it must be said, held them at bay well.

There was a blow for Stones in the 36th minute as he pulled up clutching his hamstring. Kyle Walker went on to replace him Two minutes later Sterling and Shaw combine to win a corner, but like many others in recent games, that was wasted. Do England actually practice taking corners? I do have my doubts. Just before the break Sterling had another fine chance, but shot straight at the keeper. The Chelsea striker could have had a first half hat-trick on another day. Right on half-time Joshua Kimmich fired in a powerful shot which whistled past Pope's right hand post, but apart from that England had kept Germany out quite well.

Wearing another hat, I am a Preston North End fan, and no goals for, and only the odd goal against, has been a feature of our season to date. All is well until a lapse of concentration, or a mistake, changes the picture. Deja vu perhaps?

Timo Werner came on for the Germans after the break but England are first to show. Once again Sterling shoots on target, but the shot is weak and the goalkeeper is down smartly to his left to save. That's four Sterling could have had. And just a minute later, that mistake, that was always going to happen, did. Maguire was the culprit, twice, sad to say, because up until then he had done well. First off, he tried a pass that was easily intercepted by Jamal Musiala. Musiala ran at Maguire and in the defender's attempt to stop him, he tripped him in the area. At first it seemed he had got away with it, but the VAR check confirmed what everyone in the stadium knew, it was a definite penalty. Gundogan despatched the spot-kick with the minimum of fuss, and those Sterling misses, suddenly took on a different meaning.

On 56 minutes, Reece James set up Bellingham for a shot, but the ball flew way over the bar. Straight away a clever flick by Phil Foden to James, and Bellingham was again presented with a shot at goal, again off target. In the next few minutes Werner missed two chances and another shot flew wide as Germany tried to press home their advantage. Eric Dier made a rare mistake that almost led to another goal, before another England corner was wasted, with Dier heading over. Southgate responded by sending on Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount for Foden and Sterling, but before either had time to settle, Germany added a second goal. The unfortunate Maguire was again at centre stage, losing possession in the German half, and then watching in horror as Werner set up Kai Havertz to cut inside and curl a terrific shot in off the far post, giving Pope no chance. Havertz had so much time and space to pick his spot. And that seemed to be that...or did it?

England started to hit back with first Bellingham shooting straight at the keeper, and then James crossed from the right on 72 minutes, across that eluded everyone and found Shaw coming in from the left. His shot squirmed in off the keeper and over the line, despite a last ditch clearance. Confirmation came after another VAR check. Could this be a lifeline at last? Sure enough it certainly could, as just three minutes later the two substitutes combined for an equaliser. Rice, to James and on to Saka, who burst through the German defence, and his pass to Mount was met with a first time shot which no goalkeeper would have saved. It was not to end there, though. Bellingham went down just inside the area as the attack continued with Kane going oh so close to scoring. Bellingham was hurt, but felt much better after yet another VAR check found that he had had his leg taken from under him, penalty! Up stepped the skipper, to allay all fears of any nerves with a superb spot-kick taken with aplomb!

Just as the fans and players were about to hail an amazing victory, and the fat lady was about to sing, there was one more twist, and mistake, in the story. Sergio Gnabry was not closed down at all and was able to fire in a shot at Pope. An easy save for a goalkeeper of his class? Sadly not, as he allowed the ball to bounce away from him, and Havertz was in like a whippet to shoot home the rebound. AARGH!!! Why do we love football so much? Even then, Saka had yet another chance to win it for England, but the keeper saved again. Still, plenty to write about and a 3-3 was a lot better than a 0-0 or 0-1, but oh, how we rued all those Sterling misses from earlier. So, a spirited performance to send us on our way to the World Cup, where who knows what might happen next?
  

Source Notes