WEMBLEY, England -- David Beckham's sore left ankle held up enough for him to play the entire game in the middle leg of his trans-Atlantic odyssey.
Beckham made his 97th international appearance, but his presence wasn't enough to keep England from losing 2-1 to Germany in an exhibition game on Wednesday night.
Frank Lampard scored in the ninth minute, but Kevin Kuranyi equalized in the 25th following a blunder by goalkeeper Paul Robinson, and Christian Pander put the Germans ahead in the 40th. Germany, which beat England 1-0 in the final international game at the old Wembley Stadium in October 2000, became the first team to beat England in the new Wembley.
"We are a very young team and you can imagine they are dancing happily in the locker room," Germany coach Joachim Loew said.
Beckham made his first appearance with England since joining Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy last month. After playing his first full game for the Galaxy at Giants Stadium in a 5-4 loss Saturday night, he played an energetic 90 minutes without showing too much discomfort from his injured left ankle.
Beckham plans to return to the Galaxy in time to play Thursday night against Chivas USA in Carson, Calif.
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| David Beckham makes his 97th international appearance. (Getty Images) |
"There's only one team at Wembley" the German fans shouted in English to taunt the home side's followers in a crowd of 86,133.
While both teams had several top players missing because of injury, the result was a blow to England coach Steve McClaren, who hoped for a confidence-boosting performance ahead of two vital European Championship qualifiers against Israel and Russia next month.
"I was delighted with the majority of it and the chances we created," McClaren said. "But disappointed with the goals we conceded. Of course, it's very disappointing for the fans, but there are so many positives."
The latest chapter of one of international soccer's great rivalries was spoiled by the absence of so many injured stars. More than 11 regular squad members from each side were missing including England's Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Owen Hargreaves, and Germany's Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger and strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
England had the start it wanted.
Micah Richards beat Christian Pander and Philip Lahm on the right and pushed the ball forward for Lampard for the first goal. The Chelsea midfielder, subjected to jeers from England fans in recent games for poor performances, drove it powerfully past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
