Germany have been shortened to 6/1 to win the World Cup after beating England 4-1 in Bloemfontein.
Goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski put the Germans 2-0 up inside the first 32 minutes before England struck back through a Matthew Upson header which converted a Steven Gerrard delivery.
England could, and should, have been level a minute later when a Frank Lampard effort cannoned off the crossbar, over the line and then back out of the goal. The match officials failed to spot the “goal”, much to the frustration of the England bench and fans.
In the second half, England tried to press for their second but were hit by two swift counterattacks, which resulted in two goals for Thomas Muller.
It was no less than what Germany deserved, who were the dominant force throughout the game and were aided by some suspect defending from the English.
The result ends a dismal campaign for England as Fabio Capello’s men struggled to get out of Group C, a group which had been perceived as “easy” when it was drawn back in December.
Doubts still remain over the future of Capello as England boss although he categorically stated after the match that he will not resign. However, he went on to say that he would discuss his position with the FA upon the squad’s return to England.
Capello accepted that his side had made mistakes against Germany, but cited the referee as making the biggest error.
“We played well at 2-1, but after the third goal it was a little bit disappointing,” said the Italian.
“We played well. Germany is a big team. They played a good game. We made some mistakes when they played on the counter-attack. The referee made bigger mistakes.
“Little things always decide the result.”
Unsurprisingly, England’s players are pointing to the disallowed goal as being the turning point of the match.
Captain Steven Gerrard highlighted the decision but also accepted that England had not been defensively solid enough.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, he said “I think it’s difficult, we are suffering.
“It looks like we took a hiding today but that wasn’t the case. As a team we weren’t defensively solid enough.
“There were key decisions in the game. At 2-1 we had a goal disallowed. At this level the small details dictate games and that would have been a key goal for us and maybe we would have gone on and won it.”
Defender John Terry said that the 4-1 scoreline flattered Germany. He also highlighted his own disappointment.
“In the second half we played a lot better. The scoreline doesn’t reflect the way the game was – they got three goals from counter. We’re just disappointed; we wanted to be here until the end.”
In Sunday’s other game, Argentina beat Mexico 3-1 courtesy of a Carlos Tevez brace and a Gonzalo Higuain effort. They are 7/2 second favourites to win the World Cup whilst Higuain, who is the current top scorer in the competition with four goals, is the 7/5 favourite to win the Golden Boot.
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