For 12 heady minutes, we were transported back to Euro 2020 and England’s glorious run.
Ecstatic England fans danced in the aisles at Wembley and hugged one another as the goals flew one after another past Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
For the first time all evening, Wembley came alive. It had been a subdued atmosphere, somewhere between a Nations League relegation wake and a theatre of apathy, but now the stadium was on its feet, roaring England on.
England’s Jude Bellingham and Harry Maguire look dejected after a Germany goal on Monday
Harry Kane completed a brilliant 12-minute comeback that offered England some optimism
But Germany’s late equaliser – and a terrible Nations League campaign – are a reminder that Gareth Southgate’s side look well short of being World Cup contenders
Any comeback from two goals down to lead 3-2 is special but it’s particularly sweet against old rivals like Germany, who from a position of dominance were suddenly punch-drunk and swaying on the ropes.
At that point, as well as mocking the many England fans who walked out of Wembley when Kai Havertz scored Germany’s second, there was palpable and unexpected optimism and belief.
Maybe the World Cup wouldn’t be so bad after all. Perhaps Gareth Southgate’s team of abundant talent would click. Perhaps he does know how to make the right substitutions at the right moments.
The prospect of watching the games from Qatar in deepest, darkest December, huddled up on the sofa rather than in shorts and sunglasses in the beer garden, suddenly seemed a bit more appealing.
But then Nick Pope spilled, Havertz tapped home, the Germans rescued themselves as they usually do and the mood inside Wembley was punctured like a balloon.
Goalkeeper Nick Pope was at fault for Germany’s late equaliser, tapped home by Kai Havertz
The late goal was another reality check for England with the Qatar World Cup looming
The nation was brought back down to earth and reality hit home again. There are clearly more questions than answers with this England team that has inexplicably declined since losing to Italy in the Euro final last year.
It just feels that Southgate’s time in charge has peaked and that his Three Lions side won’t be able to make all our dreams come true and win the World Cup after making the 2018 semi-final and coming so close at the Euros 12 months ago.
Quite frankly, on the evidence of this atrocious Nations League campaign, we’ll struggle to get out of the group and will certainly lose to the first half-decent team we face should we make the knockout stage.
If England finish ahead of Wales, Iran and the United States in Group B, they’ll probably play Senegal in the last-16. Tricky but not insurmountable.
But then we’re likely to run headlong into France, the reigning world champions, in the quarter-finals and I’m afraid their team looks so much better than ours.
Many things worry me about the England team that will head to the World Cup in under two months time.
England fans travelled in large numbers to Milan on Friday night but were soon silenced
Vocal at first in the San Siro, the England travelling contingent were soon silenced
A forward line that scored 52 goals during the calendar year of 2021, albeit with a substantial number coming against minnows like San Marino, Andorra and Albania, has seemed incapable of finding the net for much of this year.
Until that extraordinary spurt on Monday night, they’d gone 343 minutes without scoring and even longer without one from open play.
It’s worrying when we have the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and others to call upon.
Standing up in the Gods at San Siro on Friday night, watching England fail miserably at breaking down the Italian defence, I wondered how they’d manage against the inevitably packed defences of their World Cup group opponents.
I fear a repeat of 2010, when England’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ were led by the hopeless and authoritarian Fabio Capello and struggled to break down the US and then Algeria before scraping a 1-0 win over Slovenia.
They then crashed out 4-1 to Germany, the first good side they faced.
I fear England face a repeat of the 2010 World Cup, when they struggled in the group and Wayne Rooney lashed out at fans booing the team
England were battered 4-1 by Germany – the first good side they came up against – in the last-16 back in 2010
England’s loyal support are always vocal wherever they play but in Milan all the noise had fizzled out within 15 minutes and when they’re not singing, they’re not happy.
Sentiment against Southgate is growing, as reflected in the very audible jeers when he came over to applaud us on Friday night. Whatever happens in Qatar, I can’t see him continuing through until Euro 2024.
At least those three goals against Germany mean England won’t enter the tournament having failed to score in eight months but something needs to click and quick.
What frustrates me the most is England’s stubborn unwillingness to put in a first-time cross or take on an opponent one-on-one.
They’d tediously predictable in that they’ll get into an advanced position before turning back and playing a pass 20 yards backwards.
What happened to the element of surprise, of not allowing an opposition defence to reset itself?
Raheem Sterling and England’s forward line had real difficulty breaking down Italy last Friday
At one point against Germany, they regressed from a position close to the byline on the left all the way back to Nick Pope in their own goal in the space of 10 seconds.
Another concern is in defence. In contrast to the solid performances at Euro 2020, several players now look like they have a mistake in them.
Harry Maguire was again the fall-guy against Germany, conceding a penalty then giving the ball away in a ridiculously advanced position in the lead-up to Havertz curling in for 2-0.
The ironic thing is that the much-maligned defender hadn’t put a foot wrong until that point. In fact, the England fans in the Wembley ‘Home End’ were singing his song as he made important blocks, tackles and clearances.
He didn’t want to go off despite clearly struggling with an injury in the closing stages.
But his mistakes are the mark of a man whose confidence has been shredded ever since that agonising penalty shoot-out loss to Italy.
Harry Maguire made two costly errors in the Germany game and his confidence looks shot
He needs to be taken out of the firing line – I fear further lapses at the World Cup, having not played often enough for Manchester United, will finish off his England career.
At least Southgate did the sensible thing and end that ludicrous experiment of playing Bukayo Saka out of position as a left wing-back.
Another positive – and they are rare at the moment – was the way Jude Bellingham looks very much at home in England’s midfield and arguably the best performer in both games this week.
The injury to Kalvin Phillips has done England a favour because it smooths the way for Bellingham to come in and he’s a more progressive player and England’s conservatism in midfield had started to hold them back.
We’ll cling on to those glimmers of hope ahead of the World Cup as we always do but I fear it’ll be huge let-down without those long, summer days as consolation.
Still, soon be Christmas.
Jude Bellingham was excellent against Germany and looks a fixture in England’s midfield
