Whoa !!! Germans must be drowning themselves in beer this Sunday afternoon...
The Ghost goal not withstanding, there is no doubt the deserving team won.
Looks like the Englishmen forgot to gulp beer before this match. The Group matches had exposed English side's lack of structure, they barely scraped through to get into the final 16. Germany, on the other hand looked good even in their loss to Serbia.
England looked hapless throughout the match, barring a brief phase in the latter 20 minutes of first half, when they scored a goal, were denied a rightful goal, had Lampard's deflector off the cross bar ... the rest was just pathetic.
As expected, the flow of German passing was simply poetic.
A hallmark of basic football; most of the time, when player A delivers the pass, there is no player B at the spot to collect it; the ball and player B travel and reach the spot simultaneously.
The young German midfield outran and exposed the disoriented English defence. I doubt anyone outside Europe would have even heard of Mueller, Oezil et al before this WC. Even the defence showed brilliance, especially Frederic. Neuer too made a couple of amazing saves.
Barring Lampard, none of the Englishmen made a mark. Rooney was rusty, and heavily marked as well.
The English Press will hound the players and coach for a while to come. I hope 'the Goal that should have been' does not initiate a diplomatic row between England and Uruguay. Capello will try to piggyback on the goal line controversy. True, A pumped English side going into 2nd half at 2-2 would have been way more exciting, but I believe Germany would have won anyway.
What if the goal had been given? What if if Lampard's deflector off the cross bar had sneaked in?
That's sports, Ifs and Buts don't count. 44 years ago England got lucky at Wemberly, it simply was Germany's turn this time. This will never go away, like Maradona's Hand of God in '86, but I hope the 4-1 scoreline and horrible English defence will ensure that this match is not remembered for only this in years to come.
It also marked the end of an era in English football; the ultimate glory will elude the likes of Lampard, Terry, Gerard for the rest of their lives.
On a very amusing note, both teams reminded me of our Cricket team in some ways; The English Star Studded team resembled the Indian ODI Team that crashed out of the ICC Champions Trophy; and the young imposing Germans reminded me of MSD's young team which brought home the first T20 World Cup. Incidentally, tournaments associated with both those memories and this WC were all hosted in South Africa.
Waiting for Capetown match next Saturday. I feel Argentina will beat Mexico today and then beat Germany coming Saturday. But the best thing about football is that the private leagues have distributed talent, wealth and game's knowledge across countries, and on its day any country can be dangerous. Ask that to France and Italy.
I am supporting Germany, Argentina and Spain wholeheartedly in this WC. I feel so WOW right now, may I live ti cheer India on a football WC stage. Meanwhile, the Cricket ODI 2011 WC will be as good. (fingers crossed)
I did not know before the commentator made the reference. Here below is the backdrop underlying the importance of today's goal line controversy :
In 1966, England and Germany were 2-2 in extra time in the World Cup final when Geoff Hurst's shot struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced down and spun back into play. That time, the referee consulted his linesman, who awarded the goal.
Hurst went on to score a third goal in England's 4-2 victory at Wembley.
