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English hopes of winning a first major trophy for 25 years were cruelly dashed as they were well beaten 4-0 by Germany in the European U21 Championship final in Malmo.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time to a Gonzalo Castro goal, England fell two behind soon after the break via a Mesut Ozil free-kick. As England pushed forward, striker Sandro Wagner scored twice in the closing stages to seal the trophy for the Germans in emphatic style.

Stuart Pearce's side were without strike duo Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell as well as goalkeeper Joe Hart - the hero of the semi-final penalty shootout win - through suspension and they came up against a German team that had steadily improved throughout the tournament, peaking in the final where they stopped England lifting the trophy they last won in 1984.

Midway through the first half, with the game evenly matched, Germany struck with a well-crafted goal as playmaker Ozil slipped a weighted through ball into the path of Castro, the same player who scored against England in the group stage. Castro timed his run well to knock a finish over goalkeeper Scott Loach, who was also in goal when the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder struck in the 1-1 draw in Halmstad.

Just two minutes into the second half, following a good chance for England, Germany found themselves 2-0 up when the swerve on Ozil's free-kick from all of 40 yards out deceived Loach and the Watford keeper could not get a strong enough hand on the ball to make up for his misjudgement and stop it creeping into the net.

That goal proved to be decisive, as it forced England to commit more men forward and leave gaps at the back. Wagner, who spent last season at German second tier side Duisburg on loan from Bayern Munich, had struggled to get involved for much of the game, and missed a glorious chance with 15 minutes remaining when Ozil drove forward and squared a ball across goal, only for the big striker to slide in and miss from six yards.

The tall forward more than made amends three minutes later, however, when Ozil found him in space on the left, and he had time to take a touch before finishing coolly through the legs of Loach.

Wagner then turned England's defeat from comprehensive to humiliating on 84 minutes when he was once more fed by Ozil, this time curling a wonderful right-footed shot past the goalkeeper at full stretch to see Germany double their goal tally for the whole tournament.

Although they struggled to create chances despite their extra possession, England did have several opportunities to get on the scoresheet after going two down.

Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole, not known for his goalscoring prowess, fired in a long-range effort that clipped the top of the bar, and later had a glancing header blocked on the line by Andreas Beck.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson was also cruelly denied by Beck when he steered James Milner's ball from the byline goalwards with a backheel, only for the Germany full-back to stop it creeping in.

With both Agbonlahor and Campbell unavailable, England were lacking an out-and-out striker to go up against the well-drilled German defence, who only conceded one goal in the whole tournament.

Theo Walcott was deployed as the lone front man by manager Stuart Pearce, but the Arsenal player found himself shackled by Germany's Mats Hummels, who did an exemplary job sat in front of the back four and cast serious doubt over Walcott's ambitions to become a central striker.

Walcott had an early chance as England started the brighter of the two sides, but was forced to strike from an acute angle by full-back Sebastian Boenisch and fired his effort wide.

Just before that chance, in the very first minute, Johnson won a free-kick on the left wing, but James Milner's delivery flew over Martin Cranie at the far post.

With the marked lack of height in the England attack, Germany's defenders were able to control any long balls in the air from England, and the midfield stifled the creativity of Milner and Mark Noble.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport