But for the rest of the opening 45 minutes they were totally outplayed by a German side who couldn't believe the incompetence of the England defence... except they probably could.
It was a similar story in the second half.
Yes, Lampard hit the bar early on but, after that, Capello's team were torn apart.
It was embarrassing to watch as Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger made monkeys of Lampard, Barry and the rest.
Germany played a totally different brand of football. Modern football, moving the ball round the pitch at pace and with technique that shamed England, who looked slow, dull and witless in comparison.