Expert Blogs

So, that's the excuse sorted, then.

For England, the only good news was that Jorge Larionda and Mauricio Espinosa diverted attention elsewhere, offering Fabio Capello's team something to hide behind. Only they didn't. Not really. England are a hippopotamus quivering behind a lamppost, hoping no one can see them. But we can see them. We did see them. And so did everyone else. Only too well.

Frank Lampard's shot hit the bar and came down way, way over the line. Everyone could see that. Over on the touchline, Capello was celebrating - he didn't even pause to consider the possibility that it might not be given. For Larionda, the referee, and Espinosa, his linesman, to miss it was bizarre. For FIFA to continue its stubbornness in not providing referees with help is absurd. Ridiculous.

How hard would it have been to check a replay? How hard would it be to opt for UEFA's policy, tested in the Europa League, of having a fifth official by the goal line? How long does it take to make sure the decision is right? Does it really break up the flow of matches? After all, referees stop the game to consult linesmen all the time and no one seems to mind.

Why do FIFA seem so keen for there to be mistakes? Will this mistake - so obvious, so high-profile, so significant - force a rethink? It's certainly going to be on the media agenda now.

Not that this is anything new. Ireland did not go to the World Cup 'because' of a handball by Thierry Henry (and it's not as if the World Cup gained much by having the French instead of the Irish). That decision was dreadful, this one today was absolutely scandalous - the worst of the tournament by miles. The same miles that the ball was over the line. Now England are departing the World Cup because of a goal that was not given.

Only, let's face it, they're not. And that's the point.

An excuse is just that - an excuse

England have an excuse, the perfect hard luck story. But it is only an excuse. A cheap one. Deep down everyone surely knows it is no excuse.

Yes, it would have been 2-2 if the goal had stood and who knows how the game might have ended. Sure, Germany's third and fourth sort of came on the break - and that might not have happened had England not been forced to attack because they found themselves behind when they shouldn't have been.

But does throwing men forward really explain Germany's third goal? There was still half an hour left and the score was only 2-2 - hardly desperate times.  The third goal came from an England free kick on the edge of the Germany area - something that has surely been worked on, both defensively and offensively, hundreds of times in training. The fourth came from an attacking England throw-in.  Yes, throw in. For goodness sake.

More importantly, does the mistake really explain everything else? Really?

It might have been a different game if Lampard's goal had been given. Or it might not. And anyway, the game hadn't been that good for England until then. In fact it had been pretty pathetic. Even if England's reaction, suddenly, had sparked hope.

Lampard's goal might have made it 2-2. Better finishing might have already made it three or four for Germany. In the second half, Germany got the goals they probably deserved to get in the first.

One mistake vs. a multitude

The referee made one horrific mistake, sure. And how many did England make?

There was a reaction from Gerrard and Lampard but largely England couldn't keep the ball, they couldn't create and, surprisingly, they couldn't defend. They were narrow, their positioning was appalling, they were slow. Maybe they were just overrated.

Earlier this year, the former Liverpool captain and assistant coach Phil Thompson, now a pundit on Sky television, claimed that Wayne Rooney was "streets ahead of Leo Messi". At the time there was only one response: "which streets Phil, which bloody streets?"

It was ridiculous then and it is even more ridiculous now. Now, Messi is not just streets ahead of Rooney, he's in a different city. A different country, another continent.

Right now, in the wake of England's world cup exit, talk of Wayne Rooney being amongst the best players in the world just looks like a joke.

Almost as much of a joke as England's defence. Germany's opener came directly from their keeper, the ball bouncing twice before Klose scored. As the ball flew through the air, John Terry was in line with Upson. But not in line alongside him, as you'd expect two centre-backs to be, but in line in front of him, by six or seven metres. He'd come out from the back for no apparent reason whatsoever.

When it sailed over Terry's head neither Upson nor James dealt with it well, but they had been sold down the river.

John Terry: where were you going?

In England, Terry is held up as one of the best defenders in the world. But where the hell was he going?

Pretty much the same place he was going for the second goal, as it happens. Again he left his post, leaving a huge gap in his wake. Most the fingers were pointed at Glenn Johnson when Podolski got away from him to finish the move off. But the goal was actually created on the other side of the pitch.

Again, Germany exploited a huge space in the channel between Ashley Cole's position and the centre-back slot that Terry had vacated - it had come from exactly the same place as a chance James saved from Klose three minutes earlier.

It was no coincidence that throughout Muller, on Germany's right, was the game's most dangerous player.

Up to a point, England responded. Lampard hit the bar. Defoe too. Gerard dashed into the area but had a shot saved. Briefly, Rooney flickered into life. But ultimately they were poor. Pathetic.

Just as they have been throughout this World Cup.

When England beat Slovenia, hope returned. But even then it was hard to see why. England had finished the game down in the corner trying to waste time, scared. It was only Slovenia. Yes they had got through the group but only in second place.  A group with the USA, Algeria and Slovenia. Hardly the group of death. Group of dearth maybe.

England have departed the World Cup and no one will miss them.  Maybe not even the English. They have basically done nothing at the World Cup, their games have been amongst the worst of the tournament, eye-bleedingly awful. Pathetic. Desperate. The most noteworthy thing they have done suffer a truly scandalous decision.

For England, this was the same old story. Not that they were robbed. But that they were rubbish.