England 2-1 Germany
International Friendly
Madejski Stadium, Reading FC
06 February 2003

A record crowd for an Under-20 international saw twenty-year old Nathan Tyson of Reading score twice on his England debut to give his side victory over a talented German team at the Madejski stadium.

England started brightly. In the opening twenty seconds, home-town boy and England debutant Tyson was sent clear of the German defence only for his first time effort to fly narrowly over Walke's crossbar. The passing of the home side really was exceptional and it was only really disturbed by one or two poorly timed tackles from the Germans.

After just seven minutes, Brian Howard floated a lovely ball into the left channel for Tyson.

With considerable adroitness, Tyson controlled the ball, wrestled clear of his marker Michael Husterer, composed himself before dispatching a thunderbolt into the far corner of the German net.

The joy in Tyson's celebration was wonderful to see- the goal coming so early in his first international and at his home ground as well.

The two debutants had linked supremely well to give England the perfect platform from which to build, which they did, for England looked dangerous every time they came forward, especially out on the flanks and whenever Tyson got possession.

Much of England's good play came through Ben Bowditch and John Welsh, who both showed why so many have such high hopes for their futures.

Indeed, the only serious trouble that Bowditch, so reminiscent of David Beckham in looks and composure on the ball, was put under was when Schultz hammered the ball into his face from close range. He looked in serious pain and was eventually substituted at half time.

As the half went on, the Germans started to come more and more into the match. Leon Hylton failed to deal with a speculative ball that was played into the penalty area, his header fell well short of safety and sat up invitingly for David Okonkor to strike at goal.

Fortunately for Hylton, Okonkor rushed his effort and the ball sailed over the crossbar.

The Germans kept on winding up the pressure. A corner out on the left was whipped in to the danger zone by Christian Schultz. Andrew Lonergan, under pressure from two German forwards, made contact with the ball but it spilt out of his hands. However, Darren Carter was on hand to clear the ball to safety and relieve the pressure on England.

Just when it seemed that England had regained control of the match, they then suffered at the hands of a classic German counter-attack.

Michael Chopra lost possession in a dangerous area which allowed Malik Fathi enough space to cross the ball into the England box.

Arsenal's Justin Hoyte only succeeded in diverting the ball into the path of German captain Mike Hanke, who hardly had to move to connect his head to the ball and flick the ball beyond a hapless Lonergan.

Such a blow could have dented young English spirits, but these players are made of sterner stuff. Coming out for the second half, they imposed themselves quickly on the play and were soon dominant.

Their play really was of great quality which was largely down to the superb contribution from substitute Stephen Cooke, and the growing influence of Newcastle United star Michael Chopra.

It was Cooke who played a glorious ball from close to the half way line diagonally across the pitch towards the waiting Nathan Tyson.

Tyson let the ball bounce to his side before unleashing another powerfully hit left footed shot which flew past Haas before the keeper had had a chance to react.

The record crowd went wild at another wonder-goal from the home-town boy. It was an amazing strike and one that was an almost-exact replica of his first half effort.

Cooke's influence just grew and grew. With fifteen minutes to go he fed Chopra in the penalty box. The England no.7 had time to control the ball and hit the ball goalwards but unfortunately his effort scrapped the paint off the woodwork, missing as it did by inches.

Germany rallied in the last ten minutes and started knocking on England's door. Just like in the first half, David Okonkor weaved his magic and one shot of his went narrowly past Lonergan's right-hand post after the right-winger was afforded too much space.

Then, in the dying moments David Fox was put clear but his effort was saved by Haas. Germany having been let off the hook attacked. A low cross from Hanke struck Garry and for an awful moment it looked like an own goal. But the thankfully the ball trickled past the post.

After that late scare, England composed themselves and played out the remaining injury time with no further dramas to record their third consecutive win over Germany.

England coach Les Reed pronounced himself happy with the result. "To win three times in a row against Germany has to be some kind of record. It has acted as a great boost for the lads and now we can look forward to the World Championships."

"We were missing a lot of the better known players and so a lot of the lads out there were fringe players but they have now put themselves in contention for the Championships. Hopefully a few more of them will now start to get first-team football, which would be really great.

"It makes if difficult for me but that's a nice problem to have," added Reed.

And on goalscorer Tyson, Reed could only heap praise. "He is a fantastic lad and he has been great all week. He is a credit to his club, to his team-mates and to himself.

"What I like about him is that he asks questions and doesn't just sit there and nod his head. Even at half time he was asking me things.

"He's been so looking forward to this all week that now he's scored two goals, I should imagine it will be difficult for him to come down off the ceiling."

England: Lonergan, Hoyte (O'Hanlon), Hylton, Bowditch (Cooke), Leacock, Garry, Chopra, Welsh, Tyson, Carter, Howard (Fox) 
Subs not used: Burch, Mooniaruck 

Germany: Walke (Haas), Chahed, Meyer, Husterer, Rundio, Fathi, Odonkor, Schultz, Schied, Schlaudraff, Hanke
Subs not used: Radtke, Trochowski, Kruse

Attendance: 16, 820
Referee: M Trefoloni (Italy)