(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) England coach Gareth Southgate was delighted with the composure and intelligence shown by his fresh-faced team on Friday as a side that eventually saw five debuts settled down to go toe-to-toe with world champions Germany in a 0-0 friendly draw.
England were on the back foot for much of the first half but found a way to stop the flow of attacks and had good chances of their own as a Wembley crowd finally got some entertainment after sterile performances in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
"It was a proper game tonight. Against top players you have to be switched on and tactically right and I thought there were a lot of positives," Southgate told reporters on a night when England's team boasted fewer than 80 caps for much of the match.
"There were a few shaky moments early on and their system caused us some problems but actually ours caused them some problems too. We showed real composure with the ball and were tactically better without the ball in the second half.
"This is a young group but they're switched on. We're asking them not to just go and play with their hearts and then press in the wrong place but to think about it, and one of the most pleasing things is that this group are responding to that."
Jordan Pickford made some excellent saves to keep England in the game in the first half but it was fellow debutant Ruben Loftus-Cheek who most caught the eye of the 82,000 crowd.
The big midfielder took the calm, almost casual approach that Chelsea did not consider good enough to give him more than occasional opportunities, on to the international stage.
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