Germany get the better of England again

A depleted England failed to reverse their defeat by Germany in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final, losing 2-0 to Rainer Adrion's charges in a friendly played in Wiesbaden.

Konstantin Rausch gave the hosts the lead eight minutes before the interval and Cenk Tosun's 58th-minute penalty made it 2-0 following an incident that resulted in a red card for England's substitute goalkeeper Jason Steele.

Both sides fielded under-strength teams with visiting coach Stuart Pearce starting only two players used in the qualifying play-off second leg in Romania last month. Henri Lansbury was lively for England in a tepid opening half-hour but Germany eventually took command and broke the deadlock when Scott Loach failed to keep out Rausch's low drive from just from outside the area.

The second half proved more eventful. Tosun could have doubled Germany's advantage before a fine pass by Lansbury provided Nathan Delfouneso with England's best opportunity to level, only for his close-range shot to fly wide. Two minutes later, Boris Vukčević was sent through on goal only to be felled by Steele, a half-time replacement for Loach.

Tosun made no mistake from the spot as Lansbury took over in goal, although the midfielder then made a notable save from Jan Tilman Kirchhoff 's header before ensuring no further damage. England can console themselves in the knowledge they will face Spain, Ukraine and Czech Republic in next summer's finals while Germany remain at home after failing to qualify.