There were two parallels in today's Last 16 match in the World Cup between England and Germany with the 1966 World Cup Final played between the two nations.
Like 1966, England played in red and Germany in white and also like 1966 there was a controversial "Did it or didn't it cross the line?" moment. Though there was no doubt that this time, the ball DID cross the line.
In the 1966 World Cup Final, Geoff Hurst's shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced just over the line. A Russian lineman then correctly said that the whole of the ball did cross the line, and rightly awarded England the goal.
Today, in the two enemies' first meeting in a World Cup since 1990, a Frank Lampard shot also hit the underside of the crossbar, before bouncing down over the line. It was clearly a yard or so over the line - that was obvious to everybody in the stadium - but the Uruguayan linesman mysteriously, and suspiciously, disallowed the goal (anybody who feels England's goal was rightly disallowed then there is proof below that the goal should have been given).
It was no surprise that the linesman was booed by the fans at half time.
All this comes at a time when FIFA, the world governing body of the world's richest sport, voted in just March this year to NOT bring in goal line technology to decide whether or not a ball crossed the line when there is a debate as to whether it did or not. If cricket and rugny can bring in such technology, why not football?
That goal came after England found themselves 2-0 after half an hour, with the Pole, Miroslav Klose, putting his team 1-0 in front after 20 minutes thanks to route one football - he received the ball straight from a Germany goal kick before prodding it past the England keeper. It was simple kick and rush football, and England fans wouldn't have minded it too much had it not come just days after German legend Franz Beckenbauer accused England of playing kick and rush football.
But England somehow found a way back into the game after 37 minutes thanks to a goal from Matthew Upson.
England's bizarrely disallowed goal then came just a couple of minutes later, leading to England and their delirious fans beliving they had pulled the score back from 2-0 to 2-2 in just two minutes. But that was spoiled by a linesman who will now have to watch his back.
England seemed so stunned by their harshly disallowed goal they seemed to suffer from shellshock for the rest of the game, with Germany bagging another two goals in the second half to win 4-1.
It was England's heaviest ever defeat in the World Cup, surpassing the 4-2 defeat they suffered against Uruguay in the 1954 World Cup.
Although it would have been a 4-2 defeat if it wasn't for a Germanophile Uruguayan linesman, and that would have been another parallel to the 1966 Final.
Just like the Argentina's 1986 Hand of God against England, everybody will remember today's disallowed England goal for years to come.
Germany will play the winners of tonight's Last 16 match between Argentina and Mexico in the Quarter Final. Only once have Germany failed to get past the World Cup Quarter Final, and that was back in 1938.
Germany knock out dismal England (with help from a Uruguayan linesman)
The BBC
Sunday 27th June 2010
2010 World Cup, Last 16
Germany 4-1 England
Klose 20...........Upson 37
Podolski 32
Muller 67, 70
(in Bloemfontein.)
Starting line-ups:
Germany: Neuer, Friedrich, Lahm, Mertesacker, Boateng, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Podolski, Klose, Muller
England: James, Johnson, Cole, Terry, Upson, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Milner, Rooney, Defoe
Down and out: England know it is all over just before they are to re-start the match with the score 4-1
England's World Cup ended in a mixture of humiliation and controversy as they were thrashed by Germany in Bloemfontein.
Germany's deserved win and convincing victory margin will be overshadowed forever in the minds of Fabio Capello and his squad by a moment they believe robbed them of the hope of reaching the last eight.
Matthew Upson had thrown England a lifeline just before half-time after a vastly superior Germany had taken a stranglehold on the game with goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
But moments after Upson's header, in a grim echo of Geoff Hurst's goal that helped England to victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, Frank Lampard's superb lofted finish landed feet over the line behind German keeper Manuel Neuer, an incident obvious to almost everyone inside the Free State Stadium.
England have been robbed: Proof that the ball DID cross the line (for any Germans who think that it didn't):
He shoots: Frank Lampard lets fly from just outside the box
His shot hits the underside of the crossbar and bounces beyond Manuel Neuer in the Germany goal....
..... and it is clearly about a yard over the line.
But, amazingly, the referee's assistant, Mauricio Espinosa, believes the ball didn't cross the line and waves play on...
... cutting short a stunned Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard's celebrations
Capello was leading the England celebrations in his technical area, only to be stunned as Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his officials waved play on.
England's players and coaching team, including David Beckham, led vehement protests as the teams went off at half-time, but all to no avail and Germany made the most of their reprieve.
First chance: Mesut Ozil has an efffort which is blocked by David James
The Germans will feel a measure of justice has been restored 44 years on (though we all know the ball crossed the line in 1966), but this was of no consolation to the modern-day England as insult was added to injury by Joachim Loew's gifted young side.
This was England's heaviest defeat ever in the World Cup, surpassing the 4-2 defeat by Uruguay in 1954. But this match should have finished 4-2.
Lampard struck the bar as England dominated the early stages of the second half, but stunning counter-attacks saw Thomas Mueller score twice in the space of three minutes midway through the second half to send Germany into the last eight.
Kick and rush football: Miroslav Klose beats David James to the ball to score the first goal, straight from a German goal kick.
1-0: Germany celebrate Miroslav Klose's, right, goal which put them 1-0 in the lead
England, with some justification, will bemoan their luck but nothing must disguise the manner in which they were outclassed by Germany in stages of this game and also what has been an ultimately bitterly disappointing World Cup campaign in South Africa.
The brief hope of revival offered by victory against Slovenia that saw England advance to the knockout phase was snuffed out emphatically here by their old World Cup adversaries as they suffered their heaviest defeat at a major championship.
England paid the price for sloppy defending that gifted Germany goals - with central defenders John Terry and Upson having their immobility exposed in embarrassing fashion.
Caught on camera: it is very simple. The ball crossed the line
Wayne Rooney will return home having had minimal impact on the World Cup, and Capello himself must examine how England can move forward after being handed this painful lesson by Germany.
This was the first meeting between England and Germany in the World Cup since 1990
Capello chose to keep faith with Upson - but the defender was the central figure in a moment of defending that was almost indescribably bad as Germany took the lead after 20 minutes.
2-0: England's defence falls apart as Lukas Podolski scores the German's second.
Germany keeper Neuer's long clearance was routine, but both Upson and Terry were caught out of position, with the West Ham defender compounding his misjudgement by being brushed aside for Klose to stab home.
In the Quarter Final, Germany will play the winner of tonight's game between Argentina and Mexico. Only once have Germany failed to get past the World Cup Quarter Final - way back in 1938.
England keeper David James, who had earlier saved well from Mesut Ozil, prevented England from falling further behind with a crucial block from Klose as he raced clear, but it was only a temporary reprieve as Germany extended their lead 12 minutes later.
Again England were all at sea defensively, with Podolski left with time and space to score from an angle after Klose and Mueller carved them wide open.
Jumping Jermain: England's Jermain Defoe header hits the crossbar but he is ruled out for offisde.
England needed a swift response to at least have some hope of mounting a revival, and it came from Upson as he made amends for his earlier error. He beat the flailing Neuer to Steven Gerrard's cross to head into an unguarded net.
Then came the moment of huge controversy that will haunt England and Capello for years to come. Even from high in the stands at the Free State Stadium, it was clear Lampard's audacious chip had travelled well over the line behind Neuer, but as Capello celebrated, England were stunned to find play waved on.
Fight back: Matthew Upson, number 15, heads in England's goal to make it 2-1
Lampard's ill-luck continued as England made a purposeful start the second half. He fired in a free-kick from 25 yards, but it rebounded off the bar with the static Neuer beaten.
The danger was always that Germany would strike on the counter attack, and they did to deadly effect as Mueller reopened their two-goal advantage after 67 minutes.
Beaten: David James, left, is beaten at his near post by Thomas Mueller's shot which makes it 3-1.
From and England free-kick Gareth Barry lost possession on the edge of Germany's area, allowing them to sweep to the other end for Mueller to fire past James from Bastian Schweinsteiger's pass.
And it was all over three minutes later, with Barry at fault again. He failed to deal with a clearance near the touchline, letting in Ozil to provide Mueller with a simple finish.
Make that four: Thomas Muller scores Germany's fourth goal.
England had nothing left to offer and their World Cup campaign ended with a whimper - although they will complain bitterly about the moment they will feel had a decisive effect on the outcome of the game.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
Like 1966, England played in red and Germany in white and also like 1966 there was a controversial "Did it or didn't it cross the line?" moment. Though there was no doubt that this time, the ball DID cross the line.
In the 1966 World Cup Final, Geoff Hurst's shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced just over the line. A Russian lineman then correctly said that the whole of the ball did cross the line, and rightly awarded England the goal.
Today, in the two enemies' first meeting in a World Cup since 1990, a Frank Lampard shot also hit the underside of the crossbar, before bouncing down over the line. It was clearly a yard or so over the line - that was obvious to everybody in the stadium - but the Uruguayan linesman mysteriously, and suspiciously, disallowed the goal (anybody who feels England's goal was rightly disallowed then there is proof below that the goal should have been given).
It was no surprise that the linesman was booed by the fans at half time.
All this comes at a time when FIFA, the world governing body of the world's richest sport, voted in just March this year to NOT bring in goal line technology to decide whether or not a ball crossed the line when there is a debate as to whether it did or not. If cricket and rugny can bring in such technology, why not football?
That goal came after England found themselves 2-0 after half an hour, with the Pole, Miroslav Klose, putting his team 1-0 in front after 20 minutes thanks to route one football - he received the ball straight from a Germany goal kick before prodding it past the England keeper. It was simple kick and rush football, and England fans wouldn't have minded it too much had it not come just days after German legend Franz Beckenbauer accused England of playing kick and rush football.
But England somehow found a way back into the game after 37 minutes thanks to a goal from Matthew Upson.
England's bizarrely disallowed goal then came just a couple of minutes later, leading to England and their delirious fans beliving they had pulled the score back from 2-0 to 2-2 in just two minutes. But that was spoiled by a linesman who will now have to watch his back.
England seemed so stunned by their harshly disallowed goal they seemed to suffer from shellshock for the rest of the game, with Germany bagging another two goals in the second half to win 4-1.
It was England's heaviest ever defeat in the World Cup, surpassing the 4-2 defeat they suffered against Uruguay in the 1954 World Cup.
Although it would have been a 4-2 defeat if it wasn't for a Germanophile Uruguayan linesman, and that would have been another parallel to the 1966 Final.
Just like the Argentina's 1986 Hand of God against England, everybody will remember today's disallowed England goal for years to come.
Germany will play the winners of tonight's Last 16 match between Argentina and Mexico in the Quarter Final. Only once have Germany failed to get past the World Cup Quarter Final, and that was back in 1938.
Germany knock out dismal England (with help from a Uruguayan linesman)
The BBC
Sunday 27th June 2010
2010 World Cup, Last 16
Germany 4-1 England
Klose 20...........Upson 37
Podolski 32
Muller 67, 70
(in Bloemfontein.)
Starting line-ups:
Germany: Neuer, Friedrich, Lahm, Mertesacker, Boateng, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Podolski, Klose, Muller
England: James, Johnson, Cole, Terry, Upson, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Milner, Rooney, Defoe
Down and out: England know it is all over just before they are to re-start the match with the score 4-1
England's World Cup ended in a mixture of humiliation and controversy as they were thrashed by Germany in Bloemfontein.
Germany's deserved win and convincing victory margin will be overshadowed forever in the minds of Fabio Capello and his squad by a moment they believe robbed them of the hope of reaching the last eight.
Matthew Upson had thrown England a lifeline just before half-time after a vastly superior Germany had taken a stranglehold on the game with goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
But moments after Upson's header, in a grim echo of Geoff Hurst's goal that helped England to victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, Frank Lampard's superb lofted finish landed feet over the line behind German keeper Manuel Neuer, an incident obvious to almost everyone inside the Free State Stadium.
England have been robbed: Proof that the ball DID cross the line (for any Germans who think that it didn't):
He shoots: Frank Lampard lets fly from just outside the box
His shot hits the underside of the crossbar and bounces beyond Manuel Neuer in the Germany goal....
..... and it is clearly about a yard over the line.
But, amazingly, the referee's assistant, Mauricio Espinosa, believes the ball didn't cross the line and waves play on...
... cutting short a stunned Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard's celebrations
Capello was leading the England celebrations in his technical area, only to be stunned as Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his officials waved play on.
England's players and coaching team, including David Beckham, led vehement protests as the teams went off at half-time, but all to no avail and Germany made the most of their reprieve.
First chance: Mesut Ozil has an efffort which is blocked by David James
The Germans will feel a measure of justice has been restored 44 years on (though we all know the ball crossed the line in 1966), but this was of no consolation to the modern-day England as insult was added to injury by Joachim Loew's gifted young side.
This was England's heaviest defeat ever in the World Cup, surpassing the 4-2 defeat by Uruguay in 1954. But this match should have finished 4-2.
Lampard struck the bar as England dominated the early stages of the second half, but stunning counter-attacks saw Thomas Mueller score twice in the space of three minutes midway through the second half to send Germany into the last eight.
Kick and rush football: Miroslav Klose beats David James to the ball to score the first goal, straight from a German goal kick.
1-0: Germany celebrate Miroslav Klose's, right, goal which put them 1-0 in the lead
England, with some justification, will bemoan their luck but nothing must disguise the manner in which they were outclassed by Germany in stages of this game and also what has been an ultimately bitterly disappointing World Cup campaign in South Africa.
The brief hope of revival offered by victory against Slovenia that saw England advance to the knockout phase was snuffed out emphatically here by their old World Cup adversaries as they suffered their heaviest defeat at a major championship.
England paid the price for sloppy defending that gifted Germany goals - with central defenders John Terry and Upson having their immobility exposed in embarrassing fashion.
Caught on camera: it is very simple. The ball crossed the line
Wayne Rooney will return home having had minimal impact on the World Cup, and Capello himself must examine how England can move forward after being handed this painful lesson by Germany.
This was the first meeting between England and Germany in the World Cup since 1990
Capello chose to keep faith with Upson - but the defender was the central figure in a moment of defending that was almost indescribably bad as Germany took the lead after 20 minutes.
2-0: England's defence falls apart as Lukas Podolski scores the German's second.
Germany keeper Neuer's long clearance was routine, but both Upson and Terry were caught out of position, with the West Ham defender compounding his misjudgement by being brushed aside for Klose to stab home.
In the Quarter Final, Germany will play the winner of tonight's game between Argentina and Mexico. Only once have Germany failed to get past the World Cup Quarter Final - way back in 1938.
England keeper David James, who had earlier saved well from Mesut Ozil, prevented England from falling further behind with a crucial block from Klose as he raced clear, but it was only a temporary reprieve as Germany extended their lead 12 minutes later.
Again England were all at sea defensively, with Podolski left with time and space to score from an angle after Klose and Mueller carved them wide open.
Jumping Jermain: England's Jermain Defoe header hits the crossbar but he is ruled out for offisde.
England needed a swift response to at least have some hope of mounting a revival, and it came from Upson as he made amends for his earlier error. He beat the flailing Neuer to Steven Gerrard's cross to head into an unguarded net.
Then came the moment of huge controversy that will haunt England and Capello for years to come. Even from high in the stands at the Free State Stadium, it was clear Lampard's audacious chip had travelled well over the line behind Neuer, but as Capello celebrated, England were stunned to find play waved on.
Fight back: Matthew Upson, number 15, heads in England's goal to make it 2-1
Lampard's ill-luck continued as England made a purposeful start the second half. He fired in a free-kick from 25 yards, but it rebounded off the bar with the static Neuer beaten.
The danger was always that Germany would strike on the counter attack, and they did to deadly effect as Mueller reopened their two-goal advantage after 67 minutes.
Beaten: David James, left, is beaten at his near post by Thomas Mueller's shot which makes it 3-1.
From and England free-kick Gareth Barry lost possession on the edge of Germany's area, allowing them to sweep to the other end for Mueller to fire past James from Bastian Schweinsteiger's pass.
And it was all over three minutes later, with Barry at fault again. He failed to deal with a clearance near the touchline, letting in Ozil to provide Mueller with a simple finish.
Make that four: Thomas Muller scores Germany's fourth goal.
England had nothing left to offer and their World Cup campaign ended with a whimper - although they will complain bitterly about the moment they will feel had a decisive effect on the outcome of the game.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport
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