England suffer final agony

Mesut Ozil's long-range free-kick embarrassed stand-in goalkeeper Scott Loach but England were already trailing at that stage to Gonzalo Castro's opener at Swedbank Stadion.

Sandro Wagner then added two late goals to continue Pearce's jinx against Germany, after he lost to them twice as a player in major tournaments.

This clash for England's youngsters was defined by the fact that Pearce had Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell suspended, meaning Theo Walcott was the lone striker and had no support.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer did not make a save throughout the one-sided match, leaving Pearce to rue leaving Daniel Sturridge with the Under-20s.

Pearce also had Joe Hart suspended, so Loach started in goal, and his first real action saw him picking the ball out of the net midway through the first half. Ozil was the architect, receiving the ball from Fabian Johnson before running at the England defence and playing a through-ball between Martin Cranie and Loach. It was perfectly weighted for Castro, who stabbed the ball over Loach and in.

Three minutes after the restart Germany grabbed their second. Michael Mancienne, on at the break for Nedum Onuoha, fouled Wagner 35 yards from goal and Ozil took charge of the set-piece.

The Werder Bremen playmaker was helped by England's wall falling apart and Loach could not handle the swerving effort, falling too far to his right before getting a palm on the ball and helping it in.

Lee Cattermole had an effort cleared off the line but Germany extended their lead with 11 minutes remaining. Ozil nicked the ball in midfield before marauding forward and releasing Wagner, who finished through Loach's legs.

Wagner then added the fourth, in the 84th minute, curling into the far corner neatly following a counter-attack.