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Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer looks at the ball that hit the bar to bounce over the line during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Germany and England at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Sunday, June 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Yesterday, June 27, 2010, a date which will live in infamy. Mark it in your calendars, for it’s the day that will go down in history as the one in which FIFA were finally forced to concede that video technology must be introduced at the highest level of the game.
Regardless of how impressive Germany’s rapid-fire football was in the second half of their 4-1 dismantling of England, the fact is that the complexion of the game changed thanks to one key moment in the first half.
Six minutes before half-time, England midfielder Frank Lampard sent a looping half-volley over the head of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and on to the underside of the crossbar.
The ball clearly bounced down over the line, yet the ‘goal’ was missed by both the referee and his so-called assistants.
It won’t have been missed in England – you can thank the ravenous English press for that – and just days after FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter once again dismissed the notion of video technology being introduced to the game, pressure must be brought to bear on the governing body for continuing to make decisions which, contrary to their grandiose declarations, are clearly not “for the good of the game.”
It’s a shame that a refereeing blunder will prove the major talking point, because it takes away from an excellent performance by an impressive German side.
I’m not quite sure why English fans were so confident going into the game – had they spent as much time thinking about Germany’s obvious counter-attacking abilities as they did spouting the usual clichés and dredging up the same old tired war songs – they might not have been, but in the end their confidence was clearly misplaced.
My fellow FourFourTwo.com columnist Andy Mitten recently argued that “England are the Aston Villa of football,” suggesting that an international team with so little depth has no chance of winning the World Cup.
And how coach Fabio Capello must look back and rue Robert Green’s howler against the USA – a goalkeeping error which cost England the chance to top the group and thereby avoid a Round of 16 clash against their arch-rivals Germany.
Yet Green is hardly the only villain of a mediocre campaign, and his 39-year-old replacement David James must be wondering how players of the calibre of Ashley Cole and John Terry can be made to look so ordinary by the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.
I can give you one good reason: the English Premier League is the most overrated league in the world, and several members of the England squad would never have got a look in at some of the top international teams.
Whether there are too many foreign stars in the Premier League will once again come under scrunity, but a German side bristling with Bundesliga talent ultimately tore Capello’s men to shreds.
They were helped by a ludicrous goal on the twenty minute mark, as Neuer thumped a goalkick which Terry and the beleaguered Matthew Upson let bounce, allowing Miroslav Klose to use all his predatory instincts to poke home a simple opener.
Germany’s second was just as simple, and by the time English hearts had been broken thanks to their contentious disallowed strike just before the break, a second-half onslaught from the Germans was always on the cards.
So it is Joachim Löw’s side that marches on to a richly deserved quarter-final appearance, and in the form they’re in, it would take a brave soul to bet against Germany reaching the final in Johannesburg.
You can bet that video technology will be in use by Brazil 2014 as well.
On a night in which Germany proved their World Cup pedigree with a thumping win over the old enemy, Fabio Capello won’t be the only one having nightmares about the replay, with FIFA once again set to be bombarded with calls for video technology to be introduced at the World Cup.
Postscript: The Argentina-Mexico round of 16 match also had a controversial decision when Carlos Tevez scored the first goal of the game for Argentina from what was a clear offside position.
Referee Roberto Rosetti allowed the goal to stand despite the anger caused by a replay of the incident on the stadium’s giant screens.
Rossetti initially consulted with the linesman, seemingly seeking a second opinion, before ruling the goal legal, as players from both teams protested furiously. The goal stood and Argentina went on to win 3-1. Full details of the match HERE.