Germany ended England’s hopes of a second World Cup triumph with their precision passing and clinical finishing in a 4-1 win at Bloemfontein on June 27. The game was fairly high-paced and entertaining affair and came with its share of controversy as a good goal by England’s Frank Lampard which would have leveled the score at 2-2 wasn’t allowed.

The game started cautiously with Germany getting the first legitimate chance after about five minutes when midfielder Mesut Ozil’s shot from the right flank was kicked out by English keeper David James. However, Germany opened the scoring when goalkeeper Manuel Neuer booted the ball the length of the field over the head of defender John Terry and striker Miroslav Klose outfought Matthew Upson for the ball and slotted it past James for a 1-0 lead. It was his 50th international goal in 99 games and 12th World Cup finals goal. Germany doubled the score 12 minutes later as midfielder Thomas Muller set up Lukas Podolski, who hammered home a left footed shot from a sharp angle.

England answered quickly when Steven Gerrard’s cross from the right side was headed home by Upson five minutes later. It looked like fans were in for a classic game just a minute later when Lampard’s shot from the edge of the 18-yard box hit the bottom of the crossbar and clearly bounced down over the goal line by a foot or two. However, referee Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay and his assistants failed to signal a goal and the first half ended 2-1.

Lampard then struck the crossbar again early in the second half with a superb free kick, but the counter-attacking Germans finished the game off with two goals in four minutes as midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger set up Mueller in the 67th minute and then Ozil set him up again in the 70th. England never gave up and midfielder Steven Gerrard’s shot was pushed past the post by an excellent save by Neuer in the 81st minute. But that was all she wrote for England.

England manager Fabio Capello will undoubtedly come in for some major criticism from English fans and media, and deservedly so. His decision to leave goaltender Paul Robinson at home along with Theo Walcott will be questioned, especially with England in desperate need of some youth in the squad.

His decision to start Matthew Upson in central defence when Ledley King was healthy will also be a talking point, as well as his choice to leave 6 foot 7 inch striker Peter Crouch on the bench when England needed goals in a bad way. Taking off striker Jermaine Defoe and replacing him with Emile Heskey when the team fell behind 4-1 was almost laughable and English fans aren’t liable to forget Capello’s shortcomings anytime soon.

On the plus side, midfielder Steven Gerrard was England’s best player in their four-game tournament and seems to be well suited for the captain’s role. Glen Johnson also played well and James Milner showed some promise. However, former captain John Terry played poorly against Germany after his fine outing against Slovenia and nobody else really stood out.

The Germans made mincemeat of the English defence on quite a few occasions and that’s what led to their convincing victory and England’s biggest ever World Cup loss and biggest loss to Germany.

Claim your bonus at William Hill here!