Germany friendly to kick off new Wembley era

The German Football Association has confirmed that its national team will play England in a friendly international at Wembley on 22 August 2007.

The Germany coach, Joachim Low, recently caused an uproar by announcing the match to inaugurate the new stadium before the Football Association had confirmed the date. Now the DFB has gone one step further by announcing, via its official website, that the game will take place with a 7.30pm start.

The new stadium is finally set to be completed by mid-2007 after a host of technical setbacks and budgetary problems. Wembley last hosted a major match at the end of 2000, when Germany beat England in a World Cup qualifier which triggered the resignation of Kevin Keegan as coach.