It took 20 years for England to lose their first game at the old Wembley Stadium; the unbeaten run at the new Wembley lasted two games. Back in 1953 England lost to Hungary in a game that went down in history as a classic for their first defeat at Wembley and now, 54 years later, England lost 2-1 to Germany in a game that will not be remembered next week.

Neither side were at full strength due to a host of injuries. England were missing key personnel such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Gary Neville and Ashley Cole whilst Germany were missing Bastian Schweinsteiger, Torsten Frings, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack among others.

Nicky Shorey continued at left back in Cole's absence whilst Micah Richards was given a start after his superb performance in Sunday's Manchester derby. There were also starts for Alan Smith and Michael Owen in attack.

England started the brighter side with Joe Cole standing out with his jinking runs and they took the lead on nine minutes when Micah Richards' powerful run resulted in Frank Lampard hammering the ball home. Lampard had been on the end of criticism after his recent performances for England and the goal was a good start for him to repay the fans.

However, England took their foot off the gas after their goal and Germany forced their way back into the game. Christian Metzelder and Thomas Hitzlsperger both went close before Germany equalised. Bernt Schneider's cross was spilled by Robinson at the feet of Kevin Kuranyi who made no mistake from three yards. The mistake by Robinson added to the argument to have David James re-instated as England's number one.

England tried to re-take the lead but Lampard wasted a glorious opportunity. After winning the ball back, Lampard received the ball back from Beckham but hit his shot straight at Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann when Owen was demanding a pass in the centre.

Just as England thought they were back on top, Skipper John Terry needlessly gave the ball away in defence which led to a rocket of a shot from German debutant Christian Pander which beat Robinson to give the German's the lead.

England pressed on but Owen was denied from close range by a superb save from Lehmann before hitting wide with the goal at his mercy.

The second half was spoilt by a string of substitutions and chances were few and far between. England enjoyed the lion's share of the possession but Germany kept the defence on their toes with counter attacks of their own.

Substitutes Kieron Dyer and Shaun Wright-Phillips wasted good chances and Terry saw his header cleared off the line by the impressive Phillip Lahm.

Germany held on to the end to record their fifth straight win at Wembley and in the process become both the last team to beat England at the old stadium and the firstto beat them at the new stadium.

Glen Robertson