Trust me, despite being an England fan, I can be as critical as anyone when it comes to suffering through – and analyzing – many of the side’s underachieving performances over the years. I still shiver at recalling the likes of Andora away in 2007, losing to Germany 1-0 at the final game played at Wembley Stadium in 2000, the opening 13 seconds in San Marino in 1993 and, as recently as this World Cup, that dreadful 0-0 against Algeria. But I can’t help but think that had video technology been in place during Sunday’s second round clash versus Germany, we might be talking about an entirely different result instead of the doom and gloom, root-and-branch ripping up of the current state of affairs in the country that gave the beautiful game to the world.
In case you’re the one person yet to hear about what took place, let me fill in the gaps. After producing a defensive display in the first half to rank with their worst ever showings, England deservedly slumped to a two goal deficit. Suddenly sparked into life by Matthew Upson’s headed goal, it was sensationally followed – under a minute later – by Frank Lampard’s perfectly judged lob that came crashing down off the underside of the bar, clearing the line by a considerable margin. But the goal wasn’t given (indeed, Germany nearly scored a third straight away on the counter-attack) and despite dominating proceedings for the remainder of the half, and the opening few minutes after the break, you couldn’t help but feel that the wind had been taken out of English sails, with their heart ripped out for good measure. Germany’s third and fourth goals came on the break, as a direct result of England, by now, desperately chasing the game, striving to score the equalizer they had, of course, already scored.
Now before we move onto FIFA’s feckless attitude when it comes to embracing the use of technology, I am not so naïve as to address the fact that England underperformed more than anyone else at this World Cup (France were already in a world of trouble before a ball had been kicked and Italy were no great shakes either, nearly needing the play-offs to qualify and had an aging squad that never troubled any of its three group opponents). There is obvious dissent within the camp, between senior players and the manager Fabio Capello. Naturally, the book on all this, to be “written” by a player will doubtlessly be on the shelves of all good bookstores before the EURO 2012 finals but, for now, it remains a puzzle.
Capello’s no-nonsense manner didn’t seem to be a problem with this squad as they rolled their rivals in qualification and even beat the likes of Germany away in a friendly under 18 months ago. And while not at all convincing, England warmed up for this World Cup by beating Mexico and Japan, who both got out of their groups with relative ease. And, yes, there is a further disconnect between the highly-paid (many would say obscenely paid) players and the England supporters, who travel around the world to watch their heroes in action, only to not get a similar effort in return. As pointed out, the defending was abject yesterday, with it looking at times as if Upson and John Terry had never played in the same side before (how ironic they were the goalscorers in that England friendly win over Germany) and star man Wayne Rooney not finding his shooting boots. He’s clearly not fit (and was tackled more than any other player in the tournament) but, then again, has scored the same amount of goals at this World Cup as the feted Lionel Messi (nil) and none of the world’s best players have delivered thus far in South Africa (I blame the Nike ad).
But goals change games. Everyone is entitled to bash England for their heaviest ever World Cup loss (and believe me, the public and press over here in Britain have done just that) but going into half-time at 2-2 would have resulted in a different outcome in my opinion. Germany would have been sitting there in their changing room, incredulous at throwing away a two-goal lead while the force would have been with the English. Would England have gone on to win the match? Possibly not (and even Prime Minister David Cameron noted that we were spared the agony of losing on penalties) but we’ll never know. And for that, the finger of blame must be pointed at FIFA. Both the coaches yesterday seemed embarrassed that the Lampard goal wasn’t given. “We played with five referees and they can’t decide if it’s a goal or no goal,” said Capello. “The game was … different after this goal. It was the mistake of the linesman and I think the referee because from the bench I saw the ball go over the (line).” Germany’s Joachim Loew conceded the same point: “What I saw on the television, this ball was behind the line. It must have been given as a goal.”
FIFA President Sepp Blatter won’t address the issue (though is happy to Tweet when he’s leaving to attend a game) so it’s been left to communications director Nicholas Maignot to state that, “There are some questions on technology and additional assistant referee experiments and the International FA Board meeting in March took a stance on goal-line technology.” Blatter has even had the audacity to suggest that supporters like to debate “incidents.” And FIFA has claimed the cost of implementing the technology is prohibitive, the delays would hamper the flow of the game and it would undermine the authority of the referee and linesmen. Let’s look at these points: FIFA is projected to make almost $2 billion from this World Cup, replays on TV coverage can be shown within seconds and the authority argument has been shot down in other sports (that now do use the technology available). What’s more, the referees haven’t been replaced by the machinery and you’d struggle to find any fans of cricket, tennis, rugby and (U.S.) football who have a problem with these second opinions. Indeed, when it comes to baseball, the perceived wisdom is that the video replays don’t go far enough; home runs can be looked at but little else, hence why Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was denied his perfect game by Jim Joyce. The goal that never was. The perfect game that was imperfect. It’s all starting to sound far too familiar.
And history at this World Cup is repeating itself almost as instantly as the time it would take to show a replay in the first place. In the very next match on Sunday, Argentina’s opening goal against Mexico was clearly shown to be offside. By mistake, a replay was shown to the players and crowd on the big screen, which led to an almighty fuss; at one point, I thought the referees were going to change their mind. And just as Germany were highly likely to still beat England, it’s fairly certain that Argentina would have done the same to Mexico. But any lingering doubt is surely unacceptable in 2010. For those who feel the flow of the game would be disrupted by looking at video evidence, then all you need to do is adopt the three appeals policy that we have in tennis, cricket and your football. That rule would then mean that teams didn’t waste their appeals on (every) offside or (perish the thought) thrown-in’s. And just imagine if it were used to clamp down on diving? What a wonderful prospect that would be.
Make no mistake: England were woeful but why let there be any possibility that they shouldn’t lose fair and square? For England, then, it’s back to the drawing board with the FA apparently needing two weeks to work out whether Capello should keep his job. It is to be hoped that issues such as a winter break (which has clearly served the Germans well), where the next generation of England players is coming from and whether an Englishman such as Roy Hodgson or Harry Redknapp is required to make the three lions roar again all get discussed at length. This also provides closure for Germany, who can finally put to bed the 44 year grudge they (understandably) have about Geoff Hurst’s disputed goal being allowed to stand against them in the 1966 World Cup final.
As often in football, everything is coming full circle. For if England’s so-called “Golden Generation” began in the second round of the World Cup 12 years ago, thanks to Michael Owen’s wonder goal against Argentina, it came to a miserable end at the same stage yesterday (and what can’t be in doubt is that England would have been soundly beaten by the current Argentina side next weekend in the quarter-final). Instead, England’s next game is at Wembley against Hungary in August: the same setting and opponents who inflicted their first ever home loss in 1953 by a score of 6-3. That humiliating defeat changed the course of English football and, once more, the only way is up. But for those of you who think the England team was robbed yesterday, at least we can all agree on the fact that they literally were: five members of staff at England’s hotel were arrested on charges of stealing from the side. FIFA and the England team are guilty of different crimes entirely.