There was a nutmeg, the odd drag-back, there was a hint of vision, there was a definite swagger, there was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, there was hope.
Nothing to make you stock up on the bunting, nothing to make you book a hungover Monday off next July, but hope.
It is what Gareth Southgate manfully trumpets, the hope that the boys he has seen through the junior ranks can be of effective senior service.
Southgate believes England’s set-up at St George’s Park, advertised by the Under-17s brandishing their World Cup at half-time, will eventually prove its worth to the team that really counts.
And he believes England might not have to wait for the nuggets who mined gold with that epic performance against the Spanish teenagers in India recently.
Loftus-Cheek might, just might, be one.
An encouraging performance on debut is nothing to get swept away by but at least Loftus-Cheek showed there are young, relatively exciting options should Southgate’s choices be reduced by injury.
Or even if they are not.
It was not quite a display that automatically thrusts an individual into favouritism for a World Cup place… but it was not far off.
First things first, of course. This was a friendly against a German team on cruise control for long spells.
And, harsh as it seems, Loftus-Cheek, along with fellow debutant Tammy Abraham, is not good enough for Chelsea.
You can dress up their loan spells at Crystal Palace and Swansea how you like.
Learning curve, valuable experience ahead of a Chelsea career, blah, blah, blah. But the inescapable fact is that, at the ages of 20 and 21 respectively, Abraham and Loftus-Cheek are not considered good enough for Antonio Conte’s immediate plans.
At least they are getting first team action, albeit for the two worst teams in the Premier League right now.
Loftus-Cheek does not even know what it is like to win a football match this season.
Southgate, courtesy of his own graduation through the England developmental ranks, knows these players well. Maybe knows something about them we do not.
At least a wider audience now knows a lot more about Loftus-Cheek in particular, not that large swathes of a Wembley crowd appear to pay a great deal of attention at times.
This was a modern-day Wembley occasion when it comes to the England team.
A full house but merely a pleasant rather than vibrant atmosphere, the first paper plane nosediving before the 20-minute mark. That particular launcher must have a carpet-low boredom threshold.
It is time these games were occasionally taken elsewhere.
As friendlies go, this was very palatable stuff, mainly because the Germans presented a stern examination for an England team that included three players making their full debuts.
Apart from Loftus-Cheek and Abraham, there was Jordan Pickford, whose eventful and accomplished evening confirmed one plus point for this English generation — it has more decent goalkeepers than you can shake an oversized glove at.
Just as well, probably.
Only Pickford, the goal-frame, German miscues and good fortune kept England in the contest in the first half. But they were never overwhelmed and the young individuals having their first taste of senior action, against the world champions, were never overwhelmed.
Loftus-Cheek, who has, for someone turning 22 soon, played relatively few first-team games, boasts a confidence about him that belies his lack of senior game-time.
He moves with a barreling confidence, has a physical presence that makes him hard to dispossess and, as his lofted first half chance-creater for Jamie Vardy demonstrated, has an eye for a pass.
There have been plenty of promising first games that have not prefaced a stellar international career and Loftus-Cheek might still be an outsider for World Cup selection.
But at least he brings a commanding and creative presence to a central midfield that will remain the area of Southgate’s greatest concern.
At least he brings a swagger and the confidence of youth.
At least he brings hope.