It couldn't have been a worse opening for England.
In the sixth minute Carston Jancker latched on to Oliver Neuville's header to jab the ball past David Seaman with the sole of his boot into a gaping a net.
The majority of the 63,000 people in the Olympic Stadium went berserk - what happened next has gone down in footballing folklore.
Michael Owen tied the scores just six minutes later and Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard put England in front in the closing seconds of the first half.
The 21-year-old 'senior' striker went on to complete his hat trick midway through the second half before Emile Heskey rounded off the rout in the final 15 minutes - who can forget the big striker's DJ celebration followed by a putt at the corner flag?
The match propelled England to automatic qualification for the 2002 World Cup as Germany had to settle for a play-off tie against Ukraine.
The game has gone down in history as one of England's greatest triumphs over their footballing rivals, but here we take a look at three famous Three Lions victories over the Germans that featured Huddersfield Town players.
May 14, 1938: Germany 3-6 England
One of England's most famous wins over Germany is also the most infamous.
Town pair Alf Young and Ken Willingham travelled with the Three Lions to Germany just a year before the outbreak of the Second World War, with the whole side giving the Nazi salute to the onlooking Hermann Goring, Joseph Goebbels, Rudolf Hess and Joachim von Ribbentrop during the national anthem.
Germany were on a 12-game unbeaten streak going into the friendly, having been able to select Austrian players since March 15 1938, when they annexed the neighbouring country in the Anschluss.
The Nazis saw the match as an opportunity to promote the country and their far-right agenda, leading to two weeks of intense training for the national side heading into the game - extraordinary preparations at the time.
But those preparations did not help the Germans, who were beaten 6-3 by a Sir Stanley Matthews-inspired England side.
Cliff Bastin, Jackie Robinson, Frank Broome and Matthews each scored in the first half before Robinson nabbed his second and Len Goulden smashed in the sixth, ripping the net from the frame of the goal.
On Goulden's 80th minute goal, Matthews later wrote in his autobiography: "Let them salute that one, Len yelled as he carried on running, arms aloft."
December 1, 1954: England 3-1 West Germany
England's first match against Germany after World War Two came in 1954, with Town defender Ron Staniforth turning out for the Three Lions for his eighth and final international cap.
Over 100,000 people crammed in to Wembley to face the world champions who had beaten Hungary's golden generation in the final of the World Cup just five months previously.
Stanley Matthews stunned the Germans just as he had done 16 years earlier, setting up Roy Bentley for England's opening goal.
Ronnie Allen doubled the Three Lions' lead just after half time, drilling the ball home from inside the area.
Alfred Beck's goal brought Germany back into the game, but Len Shackleton's deft chip over German goalkeeper Fritz Herkenrath secured the win for England.
July 30, 1966: England 4-2 Germany
Not the biggest margin of victory, but the biggest win ever - and Town legend Ray Wilson was there.
Football came home in 1966, with England hosting the World Cup and inflicting on Germany what is probably the only victory to taste sweeter than the 1-5 win in 2001.
Wilson, by that time playing for Everton, was at fault for the first goal of the game heading the ball into the path of Helmut Haller who slotted home, but the Three Lions roared back into the game with Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters putting England ahead.
Germany's Wolfgang Weber equalised in the 89th minute to take the game into extra time, but for once English hearts would not be broken.
Hurst broke free of the Germany defence in the 101st minute to bury his second goal - shout out to USSR linesman Tofiq Bahramov for that one - before completing his hat trick to claim the still-gleaming Jules Rimet trophy for England.
There were people on the pitch, they thought it was all over...
