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World Cup: England vs. Germany (MatchDay Commentary)

England Crest    Germany Crest  
 

The third team to reach the quarterfinals will be decided today as England and Germany do battle (10am, ESPN) in a match between two European heavyweights.

England enters the match having struggled in Group C, where it finished second and scored just two goals. Fabio Capello needs to lead the Three Lions to victory here, otherwise he'll feel the wrath of an English media which is pouncing on his every move.

Having won Group D, Germany heads into the game boasting a talented, young team. Led by the crafty Phillip Lahm, the Germans will aim to continue its success against its well known opponent.

This is Franco Panizo and I will be providing commentary throughout this morning's match. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Commentary is after the jump

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FINAL- That's all for me for now. Please feel free to leave your post-game thoughts, opinions and analysis in the comments section below. As always, stay tuned to SBI and Foxsoccer.com for more coverage of the World Cup.

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FINAL- Germany looks as strong a team as any. Muller, Ozil, Podolski, Klose, all are enjoying strong tournaments. Their runs with and without the ball are superb.

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FINAL- England's early exit from the World Cup is sure to come with lots of criticism, especially geared towards Capello, Rooney and Terry and the defense.

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FINAL- Germany demolishes England, 4-1. Germany was clearly the better side today, but there is sure to be lots of talk about the goal that wasn't called.

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90th minute- Just waiting for the final whistle now.

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88th minute- While it wasn't as bad as France or Italy, England was definitely one of the disappointments of this World Cup. Wayne Rooney failed to live up to the hype of being one of the best players on the planet and the team mustered just three goals in four games.

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83rd minute- I know U.S. national team fans are disappointed with the loss to Ghana yesterday, but they can at least take pleasure in knowing their team exited the tournament with a hard-fought match, while England has been completely dominated over the course of this game.

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79th minute- While the English media will probably point to Lampard's goal that never was, Capello will surely receive a bunch of backlash for this dismantling. Will he stay on as manager through Euro 2012 as his contract says? I don't think so, not with these performances and this result.

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75th minute- For everyone picking a Spain-Brazil final, not so fast. While Germany's team has more youth to it than in previous World Cups, it should definitely be considered a favorite.

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71st minute- Another example of England getting caught with too many players forward. That's the risk you take when you push most players forward. 

Ozil made a strong run down the left side before laying the ball off to the center of the penalty area to a wide open Muller, who scored easily.

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70th minute- GOAL GERMANY! 4-1! Muller scores again on another counter attack. WOW.

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69th minute- England takes a poor free kick and pays for it as Germany springs a counter that ends with Muller blasting a shot to the near post.

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66th minute- GOAL MULLER! 3-1 GERMANY! Muller hits a hard shot past James on an incredible counter attack.  

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64th minute- Capello makes a change: Joe Cole in for Milner.

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63rd minute- Schweinsteiger hits a low shot from the right side of the 18, but it just goes wide. Better there from Germany.

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59th minute- Muller gets by a defender with a nice move but his shot is off the mark.

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56th minute- Milner hasn't impressed me much. Capello would do his team wonders if he replace Milner, maybe with someone like Aaron Lennon.

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53rd minute- If anyone is going to score the equalizer today, it looks to be Lampard. He has come close twice. Well, once. The other time he scored but it was not called in his favor.

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52nd minute- Lampard smacks a free kick from distance off the crossbar, and England almost pulls level. 

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47th minute- Friedrich picks up a silly yellow card for a foul on Defoe near midfield. 

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46th minute- Second half is underway. 

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HALFTIME- England needs to keep pressing, while Germany needs to settle things down and get back to its short passing sequences. It has been a wide open affair, in favor of England, since Upson's headed goal.

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HALFTIME- Incredible stuff. One moment Germany is dominating, the next England pulls one back and looks to have equalized. Second half should be very open and fun to watch.

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HALFTIME- The first 45 comes to a close and Germany leads, 2-1, but what a half.

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43rd minute- England is now controlling the tempo of the game. Germany looks a little shaky after giving up a goal.

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40th minute- That's sure to spark more of the soccer-needs-replay conversation. How does everyone feel about it? Think it should be used?

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39th minute- Wow. Replays show that the ball was clearly inside the goal, but no goal given.

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38th minute- WOW! Lampard floats one over Neuer off the restart, and it bounces on the goal line. Referees deem it to not have crossed completely. We'll have to see it on replay.

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37th minute- GOAL ENGLAND! Upson heads a Gerrard cross over an oncoming Neuer! Now we have a game on our hands!

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36th minute- Klose with some great dribbling inside the corner of England's six yard line and his shot is pushed out by James. Nice individual skill there by Klose, who is knocking on the door for a second.

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35th minute- England almost pulls one back, but Lahm makes a clearance after a shot gets past Neuer. 

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32nd minute- GOAL PODOLSKI! 2-0! Another great passing sequence carves open England's defense, and Podolski nets from the left side of the penalty area. WOW.

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30th minute- Sharp passing down the middle puts Klose through on goal, but James saves a would-be goal.

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27th minute- Milner tries to dribble by a guy, but he runs into referee Jorge Larrionda, who strips him of the ball.

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25th minute- Barry unleashes a shot from distance, but its gobbled up by Neuer. 

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21st minute- Fabio Capello must be livid with his defense there. They just let the ball bounce towards goal and watched as Klose got onto it. Upson was only nearby defender.

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20th minute- GOAL KLOSE! 1-0 GERMANY! Neuer boots a kick upfield, Klose catches England's defense napping and gets on the end of it before slotting the ball home. 

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18th minute- Khedira and Schweinsteiger get called for a foul on Lampard around 25 yards out. This could be dangerous.

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15th minute- Muller and Ozil play a great one-two down the right flank. More of that is sure to unlock the English defense. Neat stuff there.

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12th minute- Cole slides into a tackle and Muller is in pain. Looked like a good challenge there.

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7th minute- Lahm finds space down the right flank to maneuver. How he fares against Ashley Cole could prove to be vital today.

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5th minute- Ozil gets inside the box, takes a shot but its saved well by James.

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3rd minute- Is this going to be the game where Rooney steps up and takes charge? He's struggled to impose his will so far in the tournament.

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1st minute- And we're underway. Who is everyone taking today?

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PRE-GAME- Here is England's starting XI (in a 4-4-2 formation): 

James; Johnson, Terry, Upson, A. Cole; Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Milner; Defoe, Rooney.

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PRE-GAME- Here is Germany's starting XI (in a 4-4-2 formation):

Neuer; Lahm, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Boateng; Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Muller; Ozil, Klose.

Comments

  1. Aguirre has no choice but to test Argentinas defense. If Mexico can crack it, then we’re going to see a great game.

    Reply
  2. Yeah. But Germany doesn’t have players with as much composure on the ball as, say, Spain, Brazil or Portugal.

    But, they do lack quick decision making (resulting in getting caught in possession a la Clark). That covers all the others (quickness, speed of play, and passing).

    Reply
  3. I’m not surprised that England was beaten today. The English believe their press clippings. For the most part, the English are overrated. Today was a clash of contrasting styles; the English are like bulldogs, rather stocky and slow, whereas the Germans are like greyhounds, sleek and fast. This has to do with the training philosophies of the two nations. The German one seems to work much better. Also, the Germans have that octopus. That can predict games. We should get one and a new coach. The coach we have now doesn’t have a clue about tactics or man management. Oh BTW, us and the English both went out at the same spot, but at least we didn’t spend $9 million on a coach just a have million…..

    Reply
  4. The current state of the EPL is the biggest part of England’s problem. It is chalk full of foreign stars who keep up and coming English players on the bench.

    Also, people thought I was nuts to think Germany would go far this world cup. Most of their players play on the same team year in and year out and it has been like that for decades.

    English football is a joke really and relies on foreign stars and investment to be what it is. Nothing wrong with that in a capitalism sense, but it hampers the game for the English.

    Reply
  5. Oh yes, I’m racist because the German team is now full of players of Turkish, Brazilian and Polish descent.

    Think of what Poland would look like with Podolski, Klose and Trachowski in the starting 11…

    So tired of the racist remark nonsense on this forum. Some of you have a very limited worldview and limited knowledge of what racism actually means.

    Reply
  6. EPL is my favorite Football League in the world to watch and I think they are the best league overall but, English national team is definitely overrated they don’t deserve the high regard they have going into every World Cup.

    Reply

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