Sunday, 27th June 2010
Like Water Through a Teabag
Germany vs England
in Bloemfontein
The World Cup Final came early for England and Germany; where the
winner was guaranteed a meeting with Argentina or Mexico.
All in red, an unchanged England side looked for a repeat performance
of their last group game, against Slovenia.
After an offside call on Wayne Rooney, Mesut �zil broke into the
right side of the England penalty area and forced David James to close his legs sharply.
Germany seemed to have more space for a while then Jermain Defoe and
Frank Lampard worked together on the edge of the German area, for a free-kick.
From Frank Lampard's shot into the wall to a long goal-kick upfield by
German goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer in the 20th minute and England went a goal behind;
Miroslav Klose sprinting through Matthew Upson and John Terry to do the damage.
In the thirtieth minute, England defenders were at it once more;
leaving too much space for Germany to move through and forcing David James to save again
with his feet.
If the England defenders heard James, they didn't take much notice as
they were split again two minutes later, when Thomas M�ller had plenty of space to whip
the ball across for Lukas Podolski to have time for a second touch, then drill the ball
under David James, in off the post.
With ten minutes still to the break, England's ship seemed to be
sinking fast and but for James at the helm it could have been four or five to Germany.
A short corner to Steven Gerrard in the 37th minute, allowed the
England captain to loft the ball for West Ham's Matthew Upson to head England back into
the game.
A minute later and England should have been level; Frank Lampard's
shot hit the underside of the bar, landed over the line and bounced back onto the bar,
only to be gathered by Manuel Neuer as it came back down.
Uruguayan referee, Jorge Larrionda either didn't see it or didn't want
to see it. He certainly didn't give it. FIFA president Sepp Blatter was shown in the
stands at the start of the match, but what a shame that the camera didn't pan to him when
the ball crossed the line.
When the referee picked the ball up for the break, he was duly booed
by the large England contingent.
Half-time: 2:1
Frank Lampard hit the bar again, from a free-kick eight minutes into
the second-half, but this time Jabulani flew high into the sky.
England's central defensive jitteries continued and David James must
have been starting to sound like a worn-out record.
England tried to expose the German defence; with Jermain Defoe looking
for a chance, but Germany dealt with the movement far better.
England's threat at free-kick's was applaing, as all Frank Lampard
could do once again was fire into the wall.
Germany poured forward again and again like water through a teabag.
All too easily, Thomas M�ller scored two goals within three minutes to avenge the Munich
defeat of 2001 and give the English journalists plenty of ammunition to call their own
shots.
Germany were by far the better team but England made it much too easy
for them and should be made to walk home for their dismal display in South Africa.
Bloemfontein 2010 can go down in recent England's exit history with
Gelsenkirchen 2006, Shizuoka 2002 and St Etienne 1998.
Final Score:
Germany 4 England 1
 Goalscorers:
1:0 Miroslav Klose (20 mins)
2:0 Lukas Podolski (32 mins)
2:1 Matthew Upson (37 mins)
3:1 Thomas M�ller (67 mins)
4:1 Thomas M�ller (70 mins)
Man of The Match:
Thomas M�ller - Totally destroyed any hope England might have had of getting back in the
game.
Teams
 Germany:
1 Manuel Neuer; 20 Jerome Boateng, 3 Arne Friedrich, 17 Per Mertesacker, 16 Philipp Lahm;
10 Lukas Podolski, 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger, 6 Sami Khedira, 13 Thomas M�ller; 11
Miroslav Klose, 8 Mesut �zil.
 England:
1 David James; 3 Ashley Cole, 15 Matthew Upson, 6 John Terry, 2 Glen Johnson; 4 Steven
Gerrard, 14 Gareth Barry, 8 Frank Lampard, 16 James Milner; 19 Jermain Defoe, 10 Wayne
Rooney.
Referee:
Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)
Substitutions:
64 Mins (England) - 11 Joe Cole on for 16 James Milner
71 Mins (England) - 21 Emile Heskey on for 19 Jermain Defoe
72 Mins (Germany) - 23 Mario Gomez on for 11 Miroslav Klose
72 Mins (Germany) - 15 Piotr Trochowski on for 13 Thomas M�lle
83 Mins (Germany) - 9 Stefan Kiessling on for 8 Mesut �zil
87 Mins (England) - 17 Shaun Wright-Phillips on for 2 Glen Johnson
 2 Yellow
Cards:
47 Mins - Arne Friedrich (Germany)
82 Mins - Glen Johnson (England)
 0 Red Cards.
Previous Encounters:
Germany vs England always has a special ring to it, as long as the game doesn't include
penalties. Of the 27 matches between the two nations, England have won 12 and lost 10;
with a goal balance of 47 to 34.
After winning the World Cup against Germany (4:2aet) in England 1966 the two teams have met three more
times in the World Cup Finals.
Germany won the Leon quarter-final (3:2aet) at Mexico 1970, drew (0:0) in Madrid at Spain 1982, and won the Turin semi-final penalty
shoot-out (4:3) after the game was drawn (1:1) at Italy
1990.
England fans can forget about penalties at the end of a drawn out match
in a knockout competition and remember instead the 5:1 World Cup qualifying victory
England achieved in Munich on 1st September, 2001. England even won in Berlin (2:1), less
than two years ago.
To the Quarter-final in Cape Town.
2010 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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