Defending European women’s champions Germany showed their superiority with a comprehensive victory over England yesterday in a historic clash between these two old rivals at Wembley.

Germany took the lead six minutes into this international friendly and never looked back as the England team, playing for the first time at the new Wembley Stadium, were unable to pull off an upset in front of a crowd of 45,619, a record attendance for a women’s match in this country.

There was, however, no disgrace in losing to a side ranked second in Fifa’s rankings as England continue preparations ahead of next summer’s World Cup taking place in Canada.

Simone Laudehr put the visitors into the lead when she beat her marker Alex Scott to the ball, meeting it with a glancing header from a corner kick. The ball, however, ricocheted in off Scott, who was credited with the own goal. It was a disastrous start to the match for head coach Mark Sampson’s side.

England, who came into this match with a poor record against Germany, nearly took an early lead through midfielder Jordan Nobbs when she lashed a 20-yard shot at Almuth Schult. The German goalkeeper reacted brilliantly, tipping the ball onto the crossbar. It didn’t get much better though in a tough first half.

The two-times World Cup winners extended their lead on 12 minutes when skipper Celia Sasic collected a loose ball on the halfway line. The striker ran through on goal unchallenged before sliding the ball underneath England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. It came as a desperate blow for England, who were building momentum after conceding the lead.

As the match wore on Germany retained a tight grip on things, and although the hosts had chances to pull themselves back into the game, the first half belonged to the side coached by Silvia Neid.

The match seemed all over as a contest moments before the interval when Sasic scored her second goal of the match with a firm header after a superb cross from midfielder Tabea Kemme.

Much was expected from Chelsea Ladies striker Eniola Aluko but she made little impact at the beginning of the second half as England continued to struggle. She was substituted on 61 minutes as Sampson began to examine his options.

England’s hopes of taking something from the match faded as the visitors saw out the remainder of the second half with little incident.