Paul Robinson's blunder and a wonder-strike from Christian Pander saw Germany come from behind to defeat England 2-1 in their friendly encounter at Wembley.
The Tottenham goalkeeper had looked short of confidence for both club and country after conceding an own goal following a freak bobble of the ball during a Euro 2008 qualifying defeat in Croatia last October.
And Robinson, who was replaced at half-time by David James, was at fault as Kevin Kuranyi cancelled out Frank Lampard's opener before Germany went on to win an entertaining match in front of another full house at the new national stadium.
England coach Steve McClaren opted to pair Alan Smith with Michael Owen in attack after seeing his side decimated by a number of withdrawals from key players.
It was England who started brightly and, after some gentle probing mainly led by Joe Cole, they took the lead in the ninth minute.Micah Richards was the architect of the move which saw him cut inside from the right flank and feed Lampard in the penalty area.
The Chelsea midfielder still had plenty to do but fired a swerving shot inside the near post from ten yards to claim his first goal in eight international appearances.
Up until that point a patched-up German side had looked a little out of sorts, but the opening goal seemed to spark the visitors into life and they levelled the match in the 27th minute.Christoph Metzelder had already gone close with a header before Robinson gifted Germany an equaliser with a spectacular blunder.
The England number one mis-judged a Bernd Schneider cross from the right which was flighted in behind him and he could only palm it back onto his bar with the rebound falling at the feet of the waiting Kuranyi.
England responded and Smith was within a whisker of flicking a David Beckham free-kick into the far corner in the 32nd minute.
But in the 40th minute Germany moved up through the gears and took the lead with a superb second goal.Philipp Lahm and Thomas Hitzlsperger combined to set up Pander, who fired a superb 25-yard shot beyond the diving Robinson on his international debut.
Owen could have equalised as England launched an immediate attack but his diving header from Smith's pinpoint cross was clawed away by Jens Lehmann.
The Newcastle striker then contrived to lift the ball over the bar from point-blank range when a poor parry from Lehmann fell at his feet six yards from goal.
At half-time Steve McClaren replaced Robinson with James, while a spate of substitutions early in the second period had an unsettling effect on the game.
Smith was replaced by Peter Crouch while Kieron Dyer came on for Owen.
Cole came close for England when he cut inside his marker and sent a low right-footed drive from 18 yards just the wrong side of the upright on 58 minutes.
At the other end, Kuranyi hung his head in shame after latching on to a long ball from the back only to lob his shot wide of the mark with James in no man's land.
Dyer was guilty of wasting another gilt-edged opportunity in the 65th minute when he guided Beckham's early low cross wide of the upright from eight yards with Lehmann flat-footed.
Lampard was next to go close as he lifted an eight-yard effort over the bar after neat interplay among the midfield quartet, while captain John Terry saw a 77th minute header from a Beckham corner cleared off the line by Pander.
England patiently looked for an equaliser but found the visiting defence a tough nut to crack as Germany played out time for a morale-boosting victory.