Germany vs. England: Score and Reaction from 2016 International Friendly

England produced a stunning second-half fightback to recover from two goals down to beat Germany 3-2 in Berlin during Saturday's international friendly.

Toni Kroos opened the score late in the first half, taking advantage of an injury to goalkeeper Jack Butland, who was unable to reach his shot and had to be stretchered off the pitch immediately after.

Mario Gomez doubled the hosts' lead early in the second half, but Harry Kane pulled one back for England almost immediately. Jamie Vardy bagged his first-ever international goal to tie things up, and England found a deserved winner through Eric Dier in injury time.

As England's official Twitter account shared, the Three Lions' starting XI didn't see any major surprises, with the Tottenham duo of Dele Alli and Kane central in attack:

Meanwhile, veteran striker Gomez saw his solid form rewarded with a spot in Germany's team. 

As shared by Squawka Football, it was the visitors who entered the contest in sensational form:

The reigning world champions entered the match as favourites, however, and Sami Khedira saw an early shot blocked by Nathaniel Clyne. Die Mannschaft controlled possession early, while England aimed for the counter-attack.

Gary Cahill powered a header wide, but chances were few in the opening stages, with both teams looking to settle. Clyne made another strong intervention to deny Gomez, before Butland left his line to snatch the ball away from Mats Hummels.

With little action in the opening 15 minutes, Bleacher Report UK turned toward judging the kit the visitors were sporting:

Danny Welbeck picked out Alli after 17 minutes, and the youngster fired the best chance of the match well over Manuel Neuer's goal. Clyne then failed to find Adam Lallana inside the box as England started to grow into the match and muster a handful of chances.

But just as it looked like England would take control, Germany found the net. Gomez timed his run beautifully before blasting the ball past Butland, but the veteran had the goal wrongly disallowed, as Clyne had played him onside.

Football 365's Daniel Storey didn't feel too bad about the wrong call, however:

The first half seemed destined to finish scoreless, but the hosts found the breakthrough out of nowhere. Kroos decided to fire a shot from distance, and Butland, who picked up an injury shortly before, was beaten at his near post.

Here's the opening goal, per World Soccer Talk's Amadi Tidiane Thiam:

"

Toni Kroos goal. #GER pic.twitter.com/KxDWbsEUBK

— amadí tídíane thiam (@amadoit2) March 26, 2016"

Butland had to be taken off via stretcher immediately after. Former England international Gary Lineker felt for the Stoke City man:

The pace of the match barely rose early in the second half, although replacement goalkeeper Fraser Forster had to react quickly to push a free-kick from Marco Reus out of play. At the other end, Jordan Henderson had a shot blocked by Hector after Emre Can clumsily gave the ball away to Welbeck.

Instead, the next goal fell to Germany, as Gomez powered home a superb header after a great cross from Khedira. It was a classic poacher's goal, as we can see courtesy of FantasyFooty Updates:

Bleacher Report UK had been aching to press the button:

Germany appeared to be cruising, but Kane pulled a goal back almost immediately, and what a goal it was. Off a corner, he pretended to lay the ball back before turning in between two defenders and firing a ball past Neuer.

Here's a look at that tremendous spin and finish, per Howler:

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty was impressed:

Alli came close to equalising shortly after, as he found himself on the end of a fantastic attack from the visitors. But Neuer was ready for his shot, blocking it with his foot.

England started pushing for an equaliser and introduced Ross Barkley and Vardy to help with the efforts, and the in-form Leicester City star immediately got his name on the score sheet, taking a cross from Clyne and converting with a world-class bit of skill. Here's the equaliser, per Football Vines:

"

WHAT A GOAL BY JAMIE VARDY https://t.co/2KEjIGKENF

— Football Vines (@FootballVines) March 26, 2016"

More from McNulty:

The Three Lions continued to push, with Clyne using his pace to get open and fire in crosses time and time again. Henderson curled a shot just wide of the post after some great play by Barkley, and Alli missed a sitter after Barkley did well to steal the ball before laying it off to the Spurs man.

The visitors deserved a winner and found it through Dier, who headed home a corner in injury time to spark wild celebrations amongst the travelling fans.

Here is a look at the dramatic fifth goal, per OddsChecker:

Although it was only an international friendly, England have every reason to be happy with their showing on Saturday. The Three Lions easily kept up with Germany and finished the match the better side, a promising sign with the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament on the horizon.

England will play the Netherlands next, while the Germans will end their international break when they host Italy. 

Post-Match Reaction

Per BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko, England manager Roy Hodgson told ITV it may have been the best performance of his England tenure:

"

It must be close - you don't beat Germany every day. It was a good follow up to our performance against France, we carried on where we left off. 

At half-time I thought it was very unjust that we came in at 1-0 down, our keeper was injured and that really hampered him trying to save the long shot from Kroos. At 2-0 down I thought it was even more unfair. 

"

He also weighed in on Butland's injury, confirming the stopper suffered ligament damage, per Henry Winter of the Times. 

Meanwhile, Germany manager Joachim Low told ZDF (h/t DW Sports) England deserved the win, saying: "I think that England earned the win. We did not play very dynamically and never really had control."