The second round derby between Germany and England ended with a 4-1 triumph for the Germans, but England is rightly complaining for Frank Lampard’s goal that did not count when the score was still at 2-1. The Bloemfontein match was the worst defeat in World Cup history for England, that had quite a few chances during the Free State Stadium game, but also many tragic mistakes by the defence.
The match confirmed the title of a great derby right from the start with its fast pace, as well as lots of chances and goals from both sides. Mesut Özil had the first good chance of the game for Germany in the 5th minute, but goalkeeper David James turned away a corner. Even though England had the overall ball possession, it was Germany that was more dangerous and efficient: German goalie Manuel Neuer threw a long ball from one side of the field to the other, with both Matthew Upson and John Terry…losing Miroslav Klose that had no problem scoring his 50th international goal for Germany.
Germany could have doubled up in the 30th minute of the game but Thomas Müller sent the ball directly on James. Two minutes later though again Müller gave an excellent assist to Lukas Podolski that wrote 2-0 after passing the ball under the legs of the goalkeeper. Fabio Capello’s players decided to wake up after the second goal and started putting some pressure on Germany: Frank Lampard’s powerful strike was stopped by Neuer in 35′, but two minutes later Matthew Upson scored for England with a close header after a corner kick from captain Steven Gerrard. And in 39′ came the play that marked the entire match, when Lampard with yet another power shot that hit the post and bounced inside Germany’s net before Neuer got a hold of it. The assistant referee was not positioned properly and the goal did not count during probably the most crucial part of the game for England.
During the second half England had to go all in, and Capello’s men were playing their last cards in the World Cup 2010 finals. Frank Lampard hit the post again in 52′, this time with an excellent foul shot, but Germany balanced the game later on and England once again paid for their defensive mistakes. Within three minutes and with two counter attacks, Germany scored two more goal with Thomas Müller and basically finished the game early.
