Germany 1
England 2

Twelve months ago, the England team were greeted with a chorus of boos at the final whistle. It was a similar story last night in Berlin, only this time the national team had been responsible for causing angst among the opposition fans rather than their own. If ever there was a game that could show just how much progress England have made in the space of just one year, this was it.

The 3-2 defeat against Croatia at Wembley last November boasted many of the same characteristics that were on display in this match: incessant rain, a restless home crowd and a horrendous goal involving keeper Scott Carson.

Yet the difference on this occasion was that England were being led from the sidelines by Fabio Capello, a manager who is from the coaching elite rather than the bargain basement of predecessor Steve McClaren. As a reward, the country has a squad, even when massively under-strength, that is finally converting their club form on to the international stage on a consistent basis.

It is a turn of events that Capello, who has led the side to eight wins, one draw and one defeat in 10 games since taking charge of the national team last December, is keen to recognise.

He said: "Always when these players have played for their clubs they have done very well, now they are doing it for their country too.

"We have created a group and for this reason it is very important that the young players stay with us, like Michael Mancienne [who was an unused substitute on his debut appearance in the squad].

"As for the other players who have played before, they know what I want and what they have to do during the game. The character of this group is very strong."

Capello's self-belief and tactical awareness has made the stuff of fantasy into reality and England will go into 2009 boasting an away win over their major rivals as well as the comfort of sitting top of their World Cup qualifying group.

As England midfielder Gareth Barry said: "There is an aura around the team now. That comes from the players' confidence and the confidence the manager has in us.

"A bad set of results and not qualifying can set you back a little bit but the manager was aware of that when he came in. The fear factor has certainly gone and we are confident when we go out on the pitch.

"The World Cup is around the corner and the results show England are back. We are not going to get too far ahead of ourselves but hopefully people have taken notice."

The German fans seemed to having greeted England with a banner in the Olympic Stadium which read: 'Thank you for inventing the beautiful game'. The pleasure proved to be all theirs, despite the absence of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, as England played the home side off the pitch.

Jermain Defoe should have put the visitors in front after just two minutes when he was put through by debutant Gabriel Agbonlahor but he shot straight at Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler.

The disappointment of wasting such a great chance only encouraged the new-look England, with Barry and Michael Carrick dominating midfield, much to the Germans' frustration.

It took Adler to do his best impression of beleaguered Tottenham No1 Heurelho Gomes to give Capello's side the lead they deserved when he flapped at a Stewart Downing corner and Matthew Upson prodded the ball in from close range.

The travelling support must have wondered what was more satisfying at the half-time whistle, the extent to which their side had dominated or the sound of the German fans jeering their own team.

After 62 minutes, substitute Darren Bent wasted a glorious chance to put England further ahead when he missed an unguarded goal after doing the hard work by running onto Carrick's pass and dribbling past Adler.

A minute later and the scores were level as Germany scored with their first effort on target. It was all down to captain John Terry and Carson failing to take charge of a through-ball and substitute Patrick Helmes just nipped in between them to bobble the ball home.

England would have crumbled in the face of such injustice in the past but it just galvanised them to greater efforts and after Shaun Wright-Phillips's fine effort was denied by the post, Terry headed Downing's free-kick into the corner to restore their advantage.

Downing's improved showing just provided more evidence that the failures of 2007 have been fully transformed.

He said: "The confidence in the dressing room is completely different to 12 months ago. You can just sense by the way we pass the ball and move about on the pitch now. Maybe there was a bit of fear before but the manager has told us that he has no problem with us trying things and not to be worried about making a mistake."