Germany inflicted England's record World Cup finals defeat on Sunday after a 4-1 victory in their Last 16 match. Germany's superior movement and ruthless finishing made them worthy winners on an afternoon when England's defending was shockingly sub-standard and their talisman, Wayne Rooney, once again failed to deliver on the game's biggest stage.
But there is no saying what would have happened if England had not been denied a goal that would have levelled the match at 2-2 just before half-time, when a Frank Lampard shot bounced off the underside of the bar and landed a yard over the goal-line. Matthew Upson had just headed England back into the match after Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski had given Germany a two-goal advantage.
Two second-half goals for Thomas Mueller enabled the Germans to run up their most convincing win against their rivals. They were both scored on the counter-attack as England sought an equaliser. Germany coach Joachim Loew, whose side next face either Argentina or Mexico, revealed he ordered his side at the interval to keep pushing. "I said to my team at the half-time break, we need to try and score the third goal. We knew we could hit England on the counter-attack because they were open. Our players carried it off brilliantly," he said.
World Cup 2010: Germany vs England
Two-goal Mueller was already anticipating a deeper run into the tournament. "Now anything is possible, even if there is a tough nut waiting for us. But that doesn't matter, we just have to clean the way. This result is madness," he said. Klose was delighted with his team's efforts. "We were aggressive from the first minute, unlike in the Ghana game (which Germany won 1-0). The win was highly deserved," said Klose. "We have always said our goal is the semi-finals at least. That's what we want to reach."
England's vulnerability at the back had been exposed early on and, after goalkeeper David James had denied Mueller, Klose exploited it to get on the end of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's upfield punt to give Germany the lead. John Terry allowed the ball to fly over his head and Klose outmuscled and outpaced Upson before flicking the ball past James with the outside of his boot.
Mueller did the damage for Germany's second. Taking Klose's first-time pass, the Bayern Munich midfielder broke into the box before switching the ball to Podolski, who beat James at his near post from a tight angle. Neuer pulled off a superb reflex save at close range to prevent Lampard finishing off James Milner's low cross just before Upson gave England a lifeline. Lampard himself came agonisingly close to an equaliser seven minutes after the restart, hammering a free-kick from nearly 40 yards against the bar with Neuer struggling to cover.
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Germany inflicted England's record World Cup finals defeat on Sunday after a 4-1 victory in their Last 16 match. Germany's superior movement and ruthless finishing made them worthy winners on an afternoon when England's defending was shockingly sub-standard and their talisman, Wayne Rooney, once again failed to deliver on the game's biggest stage.
But there is no saying what would have happened if England had not been denied a goal that would have levelled the match at 2-2 just before half-time, when a Frank Lampard shot bounced off the underside of the bar and landed a yard over the goal-line. Matthew Upson had just headed England back into the match after Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski had given Germany a two-goal advantage.
Two second-half goals for Thomas Mueller enabled the Germans to run up their most convincing win against their rivals. They were both scored on the counter-attack as England sought an equaliser. Germany coach Joachim Loew, whose side next face either Argentina or Mexico, revealed he ordered his side at the interval to keep pushing. "I said to my team at the half-time break, we need to try and score the third goal. We knew we could hit England on the counter-attack because they were open. Our players carried it off brilliantly," he said.
World Cup 2010: Germany vs England
Two-goal Mueller was already anticipating a deeper run into the tournament. "Now anything is possible, even if there is a tough nut waiting for us. But that doesn't matter, we just have to clean the way. This result is madness," he said. Klose was delighted with his team's efforts. "We were aggressive from the first minute, unlike in the Ghana game (which Germany won 1-0). The win was highly deserved," said Klose. "We have always said our goal is the semi-finals at least. That's what we want to reach."
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England's vulnerability at the back had been exposed early on and, after goalkeeper David James had denied Mueller, Klose exploited it to get on the end of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's upfield punt to give Germany the lead. John Terry allowed the ball to fly over his head and Klose outmuscled and outpaced Upson before flicking the ball past James with the outside of his boot.
Mueller did the damage for Germany's second. Taking Klose's first-time pass, the Bayern Munich midfielder broke into the box before switching the ball to Podolski, who beat James at his near post from a tight angle. Neuer pulled off a superb reflex save at close range to prevent Lampard finishing off James Milner's low cross just before Upson gave England a lifeline. Lampard himself came agonisingly close to an equaliser seven minutes after the restart, hammering a free-kick from nearly 40 yards against the bar with Neuer struggling to cover.
