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FIFA World Cup 2010 match 51 - Round of 16 England: James, Johnson (Wright-Phillips 87), A.Cole, Terry, Upson, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Milner (J.Cole 63), Rooney, Defoe (Heskey 71). Germany: Neuer, Friedrich, Lahm, Mertesacker, Boateng, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Ozil (Kiessling 83), Podolski, Klose (Gomez 72), Muller (Trochowski 72). I haven't rushed to get this report out and I suppose nobody now wants to read it, except maybe a few Germans, but we've got to make the effort and obviously don't want to be accused of hiding from the beating England took. First and foremost it is important to acknowledge that England were beaten by a far better team and had every reason to feel embarrassed about a display that was mainly pathetic. It would not be England if there weren't causes for regret and grievance, however. The grievance was obvious, a patently legitimate goal not given with the score at 2-1 to Germany. The regret comes from the fact that despite such a disjointed display England generally looked dangerous whenever they did put any pressure on the German defence. You could not help feeling that if England could have defended at all competently and made any sort of challenge in midfield that the game was there for the taking. England could not defend properly at any stage, however, and barely put in a tackle worthy of the name throughout the game. It is also undeniable that although the Germans were given unbelievable time and space in which to build attacks the movement of their attacking players eclipsed that of their opponents. In the first few minutes Ashley Cole launched himself into a crunching tackle on Muller taking the ball and also dumping his opponent uncomfortably to the ground. This was what you would have expected to see in a game of this sort and should not have been worthy of a mention in the match report. It would be the last time an English player managed to make such a challenge, however. Other than this there were a few desperate last ditch challenges as the English goal came under real threat. There would be no tackles of real authority from the defenders and nothing at all from the midfield. It was soon obvious that England were struggling painfully in central defence where Terry and Upson were unable to handle Klose either in the air or on the ground. Even more disturbing was the lack of organisation within the back four. Several times an England defender went to challenge for a ball that was not his and this contributed to the huge gaps that consistently appeared in the England rearguard. The quick and eager Germans were not slow to exploit these. There were plenty of alarming moments in the England defence and James had to block uncomfortably from Ozil after a lob down the middle by Schweinsteiger found him running clear. Much had been said in the build up about the threat carried by Ozil but you would have thought the England team were completely unaware of his existence. Nobody got close to him the whole game with Gareth Barry looking completely out of his depth as a protector of the back four. A goal looked inevitable and on twenty minutes it duly arrived. Even given the ragged nature of England's performance this goal was staggeringly awful from a defensive point of view. Neuer belted a goal kick straight down the centre of the pitch and no England player got near it before Klose slid in to finish from twelve yards out. Nobody else had touched the ball. I've watched a lot of football, most of it of a fairly poor standard, but I can honestly say I've never seen a team concede a goal in this manner. Not even on the park. John Terry was too far forward and the ball had sailed over his head, Upson had followed Klose too far over to the wing and found himself lost in the foot face that followed. Questions should also be asked of David James as the ball had bounced well into his penalty area before Klose finally managed to catch up with it. As Misteeq would say "Sca, sca, sca, scandalous." The England defence was shredded again as Muller sent Klose in on goal but James was able to block but Germany inflicted further punishment when the defence parted yet again as Muller, Ozil and Klose combined well to provide Podolski with the chance to score. Podolski had the freedom of the England penalty area, which was just as well given his heavy first touch, and with James showing him as much of the goal as possible the forward slammed a low shot in off the far post. England roused themselves slightly at this point and showed that they could also penetrate the German defence given any sort of possession in and around the box. Milner sent in one superb low centre to the near post which was met by a Lampard flick. Neuer knew little about the effort but made an instinctive parry at point blank range and Lahm was on hand to boot clear from beneath the crossbar. Then a short corner caught the Germans napping and when Gerrard chipped in a centre Upson was able to float a header beyond the stranded Neuer. Given some sort of impetus and belief England continued to push forward and should have been level minutes later after scoring a perfectly good, and perfectly obvious, goal. The ball broke to Lampard just outside the area and his measured effort dipped over Neuer's head, hit the underside of the bar and bounced down at least a yard over the line. Somehow the officials failed to spot this and play continued, Podolski firing just wide at the end of a quick counter attack. Immediately questions started being asked about goalline technology but all you needed here was a linesman who was watching the game. The official was far enough up with play and could not have failed to see that the ball had crossed the line had he been looking. Instead he was charging down the touchline trying to catch the ball up. So England went in at half time one goal behind having scored exactly the same amount of goals as the Germans. They also went in knowing that they should have been completely out of contention on the balance of play. Half Time: England 1 Germany 2 England came out and were the better team at the start of the second half as they sought an equaliser. They desperately needed to find one quickly, however, because their vulnerability to German breakaways was obvious. England's second piece of wretched fortune came when Lampard smashed a free kick against the bar from thirty yards with Neuer seemingly in a trance and the goalkeepers' nervousness looked likely to spread to those in front of him. Schweinsteiger was perilously close to increasing Germany's lead with a low cross shot on the counter, however, as England remained incapable of defending any situation properly. It was hard to understand why Capello had not made some effort to shore up the England defence. In the opening game he had withdrawn Milner after half an hour to put him out of his misery and should have done the same to Upson here after twenty minutes and brought on his original first choice partner for Terry, Ledley King. It was also obvious that there was no point in Gareth Barry remaining on the pitch. He had not broken up one German attack all day and looked painfully slow and without any energy. At this stage it would have been worth the risk of dispensing with the holding player altogether and getting Gerrard back into the centre with Lampard. Instead when Joe Cole did come on it was as a straight swap for James Milner. Germany then sealed victory with two goals in three minutes, both coming in a manner totally appropriate to the general nature of the game. The killer goal came after England had been given a free kick in a great position, dead centre about twenty five yards from goal. Lampard smashed his free kick straight into the wall, the ball broke to Barry who immediately gave the ball away and Germany stormed upfield on the break to score through Muller, who finished after a long range exchange of passes with Schweinsteiger. James had been horribly exposed again but hardly helped matters by diving out of the way of a shot that flew in at his near post. Almost immediately Germany punted a ball out of defence towards the left wing where Barry had about a ten yard start on Ozil but was still beaten to the ball with embarrassing ease and could only watch as his opponent strolled forward to square for Muller to slot into the gaping goal. This was comprehensively game over and Germany might have added more in the closing minutes but didn't. England managed one fine move which ended with Gerrard skipping into the box for a good effort which brought an outstanding save from Neuer but this game was now well and truly over and the final whistle could not come soon enough for an utterly deflated England team. I suppose I should also mention the bizarre introductions of Heskey for Defoe and Wright-Phillips for Johnson as Capello's final acts of a completely forgettable World Cup campaign. Full Time: England 1 Germany 4 England: James 5, Johnson 5, A.Cole 4, Terry 3, Upson 2, Gerrard 5, Lampard 7, Barry 0, Milner 3 (J.Cole 3), Rooney 4, Defoe 4 (Heskey 3). Germany: Neuer 6, Friedrich 5, Lahm 7, Mertesacker 5, Boateng 6, Khedira 7, Schweinsteiger 9, Ozil 8, Podolski 7, Klose 8 (Gomez 6), Muller 8 (Trochowski 5). Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) 6 Good: Bastian Schweinsteiger. I hate this holding midfielder myth crap. Schweinsteiger carries out a defensive role for the Germans but he plays in midfield and tries to win the ball there rather than just standing in a space between the defence and midfield where you can influence nothing. Bad: England. Ugly: Frank Lampard's goal not being allowed. No technology was needed to see that this ball was behind the line. Just eyes open and pointing in the right direction.
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