Germany completely dominated the first 35 minutes of the first-half: they used the ball neatly and played around England from the outset of the game. When England were in possession they usually tried to force the game with fruitless long balls. Germany showed much more flexibility in attack, with Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller often finding space in advanced positions. Ozil had a good chance after five minutes when he was played in behind the England defence, but David James saved well. However, Germany’s first goal did not require any imaginative interplay: on 20 minutes, Miroslav Klose latched onto a punted goal-kick and held off Matthew Upson’s challenge before placing the ball home. Klose could have scored again 10 minutes later after he latched onto Muller’s threaded through-ball, but James made another good save. It wasn’t long though until the Germans doubled their lead. Muller had space to run at the England defence and played a neat ball to Podolski; the latter took a poor first touch but was still able to find the net from a tight angle.
Just as it appeared that England might be embarrassed by Germany they managed to reduce the deficit. A short-corner made its way to Gerrard who lifted a nice cross for Upson to head home. 2-1 would have been a reasonable score for England to take into the break, but it could have been even better. James Milner intercepted a misplaced German clearance near the halfway line and played the ball forward to Defoe who was tackled on the edge of the box, Lampard ran onto the loose ball and drove it into the goal via the underside of the bar. But crucially, the officials did not notice that the ball had landed over the line before bouncing clear of the goal.
The second-half initially had more balance. Lampard struck a thunderous free-kick against the bar from about 30 yards. And around the hour mark both sides had chances. John Terry was turned by Muller on the edge of the box, but Ashley Cole deflected the winger’s shot wide. At the other end, Rooney was starting to find some space and he was involved in a couple of decent moves but the most promising of these culminated in a blocked shot from Milner. But it was the Germans that made the breakthrough: following a thwarted Lampard free-kick Germany counterattacked and Bastian Schweinsteiger played in Muller who fired home. The lead was further extended following another counterattack: Ozil scorched clear of Barry and crossed for an unmarked Muller who took an easy chance to double his tally. This essentially finished the game off, although Gerrard could have pulled a goal back after he made space for himself in the box, but his shot was repelled by a diving Manuel Neuer save.
When the score-line was 2-1 England did nearly level on two occasions, but Germany deserved to win this game. They showed much more imagination in attack and exposed England’s defensive and organizational frailties.
7 David James: Kept England in the game in the first-half. He couldn’t have done much better with the German goals.
6 Frank Lampard: Worked hard, used the ball well, and he almost levelled the score twice. But the England defence did seem to be lacking the carapace of a secure central-midfield.
5 Wayne Rooney: Started to find some space in the second-half and he was involved in a couple of reasonable moves. But his overall contribution was insubstantial.
5 Gareth Barry: Tidy when in possession, but there was a surfeit of space in front of the back-four. He was also outpaced easily prior to the last goal.
5 Steven Gerrard: His poorest showing of World Cup 2010; looked like he was trying too hard.
5 James Milner: One good cross, but was otherwise a marginal presence.
5 Jermain Defoe: Had a pretty thankless task leading the line: his involvement was only sporadic.
5 Ashley Cole: Had a tricky time with both Ozil and Muller using his flank, he still showed more spirit than his fellow defenders.4 John Terry: The England defence was in disarray in the first-half.
4 Matthew Upson: Shrugged off by Klose for the first-goal and the centre of defence was bisected too often. Nicely taken goal though!
4 Glen Johnson: Showed very little in attack, and appeared off the pace at the back.
Terry, Johnson, Gerrard, Barry, Lampard, Capello – OUT!
You forgot to add Heskey to that list.
Hats off to Mesut Ozil though, he was outstanding today. The English players did not know how to deal with him. He sucked Terry out of position for the first goal, was involved in the build up for the second, was an unused overlapping player in the three man German attack which brought the third goal and made Gareth Barry look like he was running in treacle for the fourth.
Only 21 years of age – I wouldn’t be surprised if one of Europe’s ‘big clubs’ come knocking on Werder Bremen’s door with a large cheque in their hands this summer.
England 2010 = Manchester United 1994
Back in 1994 the Premier League’s finest, shorn of their foreign stars took on one of Europe’s biggest names, Barcelona, and were taught a lesson in football.
Sixteen years later and the Premier League’s finest, shorm of its foreign stars took one of the World’s bigges names, Germany, and were taught a lesson in football.
The good news is that Mancheser United learnt their lesson to become World champions. The bad news is that it took another five attempts, which in World Cups is 20 years.
Even worse news is that England have no excuse – they have the experience, they have a world class coach, they have one of the world’s best players, they have all the sports science they need, but what they don’t have is good enough players.
Dr Ed, I think you’ve been overly geneorus with most of those marks. Even with his goal Upson would struggle to make double figures in binary and Terry was no better. Barry could have been as tidy in possession as an OCD sufferer’s fridge, but he did not do his job properly. Milner may as well not have been there and Glen Johnson just emphasised Benitez’s folly in signing him forso much. The so-called big names all failed to live up their hype, although to be fair none of them were truly woeful.
I wish Germany well in the rest of the tournament, but to be honest, I don’t rate their chances. They had the perfect game plan for yesterday’s game yet if the goal that wasn’t (surely a topic for further WCC debate) had been allowed I’m convinced they would have lost, which, given the state of the side they played, does not bode well for them.
You’re right Shoelaces – Heskey OUT!
While we’re at it let’s add Ferdinand, Upson and Carragher to the list.
If Rooney was 5 years older I would also include him.
Having a wonderful morning here in the Fatherland taking abuse from my German colleagues. They usually never say two words, but TODAY they’re up for a bit of banter funnily enough.