After the dreams of Fabio Capello's England were destroyed by Deutschland on Sunday, much of the German media turned its attention to events 44 years ago; when that Russian linesman allowed Geoff Hurst's 'goal' to stand and break the hearts of a nation.
This time, though, it couldn't have been easier for the Uruguayan officials to award a goal to England, after Frank Lampard's 20-yard effort lobbed over Manual Neuer in the Germany net and bounced a full two yards over the goal line â yet they didn't.
And with the England players hesitating to break into celebration â which may or may not have made the officials' minds up for them whether or not to award the goal â play was continued, and England's dreams ruthlessly dashed by Joachim Löw's devilishly talented team shortly after.
Germany daily paper Bild leads with the headline âÂÂJetzt wissen die Engländer, wie wir uns die ganze Zeit gefühlt habenâ â literally âÂÂNow the English know how we felt the whole timeâÂÂ. Perhaps after inflicting England's biggest ever World Cup defeat, the Germans ought to be entitled to indulge in a little Schadenfreude.
11 Freunde, the closest equivalent to FourFourTwo in Germany, explain how the Lampard 'goal' was almost identical to Hurst's effort in '66; Everybody in the stadium could see it, his effort hit the bar then bounced a metre over the line, yet the linesman unbelievably allowed play to continue. âÂÂWembley goal revisitedâÂÂ, is how they described it.
One can't help but feel that, with dubious decisions aplenty already experienced in this thrilling World Cup, there was always going to be a massive controversy in a game that, from the outside at least, always looked a bigger occasion to England than it did to the Germans. Is it fate that that Wembley ghost has now been put to bed for the Germans, or just unbelievable coincidence?
Another article of interest from 11 Freunde concentrates today on the fact that Wayne Rooney, the man who âÂÂshould have been England's biggest saviour in South AfricaâÂÂ, âÂÂnever really arrivedâ at the World Cup â pointing the finger to a long, hard season domestically with Manchester United, and also to poor tactical decisions from England boss Fabio Capello which forced Rooney to constantly drop too deep into midfield during games.
The cynics amongst us, however, would rather point the finger at too many big-name superstars not doing their job for England, time after time after time. Surely world class players can adapt to different tactics? Or are they just not world class? Whatever they are, to this writer it would be no big loss to see the back of up to 50% of England's starting XI. Time for chances, and big ones at that.
As the for Germans, though, Löw's decision to continue with Bundesliga goal-shy strikers Podolski and Klose looks to have paid massive dividends, and 20-year-old Bayern München striker Müller twice finished expertly.
A youthful squad has a date with Argentina on Saturday; a win there and the country would really start to believe that a fourth World Cup could in touching distance.
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