MARIO GOETZE scored on his international comeback to help Germany beat Italy for the first time in more than 20 years, a 4-1 drubbing in their friendly Tuesday.

    Goetze, who had only played 53 minutes for Bayern Munich since a groin injury sustained against Ireland on Oct. 8, headed Germany’s second goal before the break after Toni Kroos opened the scoring.

    Goetze was also involved in the third before the hour-mark, setting Julian Draxler free to cross for Jonas Hector’s first international goal.

    “I’m so happy. For me it was simply important to be able to play again after such a long injury, simply to be able to do what’s fun for me. Then to score as well,” Goetze said.

    Mesut Ozil made it 4-0 in the 75th with a penalty conceded by Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Substitute Stephan El Shaarawy scored Italy’s consolation goal in the 83rd with a strike from distance.

    It was Germany’s first win over Italy at the eighth attempt since a 2-0 victory June 21, 1995.

    “We did it well. All the players fulfilled their duties well, played with a lot of discipline,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

    Following the 3-2 defeat to England in Berlin on Saturday — Germany’s second consecutive loss after losing to France in November — Loew opted for a back-three of Mats Hummels, Antonio Ruediger and Shkodran Mustafi, with Hector and Sebastian Rudy supporting on either flank.

    “We trained with the formation a little bit yesterday,” Kroos said. “We wanted to come out of a more compact defense. This was a game that we wanted to win, in which we perhaps wanted to make up for something.”

    Thomas Mueller captained the side for the first time on his 70th appearance. Regular captain Bastian Schweinsteiger suffered a partial ligament tear in his knee in training last week and faces a race against time to be fit for the European Championship.

    Italy rarely threatened reserve goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen though he looked jittery on the rare occasions he was called into action. (SD-Agencies)