DAY 17 REVIEW

England will feel a strong sense of injustice about Frank Lampard's goal that never was. They need not bother, as they were comprehensively outclassed by a talented German team as they were thrashed 4-1 in humiliating fashion. True, if the Uruguayan linesman had seen Lampard's chip went a foot over the line after smacking the underside of the crossbar. But, when your best player is your goalkeeper in such a big defeat, that gives you a sense of how the match went. Many of England's players either failed to perform, or looked woefully out of their depth. Germany's young team, on the other hand, looked like they had better shape and always believed they would come out on top. The disrespect shown them by the BBC studio team was quite disgraceful. England looked shaky from the start, and the brilliant Mesut Ozil could have given his side the lead in the opening minutes, as he sneaked in from Bastian Schweinsteiger's lofted pass, but David James saved with his legs. However, after 20 minutes, the Portsmouth keeper had no chance, as his defence parted like the red sea in schoolboy fashion. A long kick from German keeper Manuel Neuer bounced all the way through, and John Terry and Matthew Upson were hopelessly far apart in the English defence. The predatory Miroslav Klose got the better of Upson, and stabbed the ball past James. By the time Klose finished from eight yards, no player had touched the ball after it left Neuer's boot. Ozil had another great chance after the impressive Thomas Muller played his in, but more amateur defending saw Germany double their lead after 32 minutes. Klose flicked the ball over the top for Muller. Upson and Terry had been dragged towards the ball, meaning Glen Johnson had to cover frantically. This left Muller with all the time in the world to square for Lukas Podolski, who despite poor first touch, had so much space he beat James with ease. But after that, England came roaring back into the match (albeit briefly). James Milner delievered an excellent cross, from which Lampard's effort was smoothered by Neuer, with some help from his defenders. Minutes later, England got a priceless lifeline. Steven Gerrard's cross was met well by Upson, who atoned partially for his terrible defending as he headed into the net. Less than a minute later, it should have been 2-2. England won the ball back right from the kick-off, and as the ball broke to Lampard, his excellent chip had Neuer beaten, but bounced off the underside of the crossbar and clearly over the line. But neither the referee or linesman signalled for a goal, much to the dismay of the English players and fans alike. England came out strongly in the second half, as it seemed for a while that we had a game on our hands. Lampard's unlucky afternoon continued as he smacked the crossbar from 30 yards with a brilliant free-kick. England were pushing forward, but the ball just would not break for them in the penalty area. Germany looked dangerous everytime they countered, and after Schweinsteiger and Muller gave warnings of this danger, the game was pulled out of England's reach in embbarassing fashion. Lampard had another free-kick from a similar range to his close earlier attempt, but it rebounded off the wall. Gareth Barry lost the ball, and Germany race upfield. Muller fed Schweinsteiger, and he took the return in the penalty area before firing the ball inside James' near post. And three minutes later, it was game, set and match. This time a throw in sae Terry scamper forward, and lose the ball on the edge of the area. Despite a ten yard headstart, Barry was skinned by Ozil and he raced forward into the penalty area before squaring for Muller to tap home, and seal it. It was a depressing end to a stuttering World Cup campaign. The inquest starts here. Many of these players will not see action in another World Cup. So the question has to be asked - what happened to our so-called 'golden generation.' It looks like there are bleak times ahead for English football.

Argentina booked their place in the quarter-finals, and will face Germany on Saturday, with the chance to avenge their penalty shoot out defeat at the same stage in 2006. But they were helped by an atrocious piece of officiating, as Germany had been earlier in the day. Their 3-1 victory over Mexico was certainly flattering, and their defence could be a possible weak link against stronger teams. Mexico started brightly, and left back Carlos Salcido fired against the bar from long range after ten minutes. Andres Guardado then shot wide, but the match was turned on its head after 25 minutes with an extremely dubious goal. Carlos Tevez raced through the Mexican defence, and saw his shot saved by keeper Oscar Perez. But Lionel Messi hooked the ball back into the penalty area, and Tevez headed home from close range, despite being yards offside. The Mexican players surrounded the guilty linesman, but their protests fell on deaf ears. But eight minutes later, the Mexicans shot themselves in the foot, and probably gifted the win to Argentina. Defender Ricardo Osorio, under no pressure, scuffed a pass on the edge of his penalty area, allowing Gonzalo Higuain to nip in, round Perez, and slot in to secure his place as the tournaments top scorer on four goals. The Real Madrid striker had the chance to kill the game before half-time, but headed wide from six yards, and there was a melee at half-time as Mexico's players surrounded the officials, clearly feeling their own injustice. There was no debate about the third goal, which left Mexico with no way back. The first effort from Tevez struck a defender, but when the ball rebounded to him, the Manchester City striker fired into the top corner from 25 yards. But to Mexico's credit, they kept pressing, and Manchester Unites-bound Javier Hernandez, and Guillermo Franco, were inches away from reducing the deficit. Hernandez did pull one back with 20 minutes remaining, with a brilliant turn taking him away from the static Martin Demichelis, before lashing into the roof of the net. But Argentina held out comfortably, and with two strong attacks facing two weak defences, expect an entertaining battle in Cape Town next weekend.

PLAYER OF THE DAY - Mesut Ozil.

Why doesn't English football produce this kind of player? Ozil ran the game, and the English defence just couldn't deal with him. He constantly picked up good positions, and almost always picked out the right past. The Werder Bremen seemed to stroll into space at will, and no-one knew who was supposed to pick him up. At just 21, he is only going to get better. When he can finish like Lionel Messi, he'll be some player. He will be sure to attract a huge price tag this summer, as he has been the outstanding player of the finals so far.

GOAL OF THE DAY - Second by Carlos Tevez.

The goal which clinched the victory for Argentina will come as no surprise to Manchester City fans, as they have seen him do this all season at Eastlands. He received the ball just outside the penalty area, and after his first shot hit a defender, he expertly fired the rebound into the top corner, leaving the Mexican keeper with no chance.

GAFFE OF THE DAY - England's defence.

It doesn't matter how good you are going forward (and England weren't especially good in Bloemfontein), if you leave the back door open, you are going to get punished. I was not alone in fearing how the pre-tournament loss of Rio Ferdinand would affect England's defence, and so it proved. Matthew Upson looked completely out of his depth against Germany's pace and movement, but John Terry was equally as bad. The Chelsea defender has certainly seen better days. And Gareth Barry, who was meant to be shielding the defence, was directly culpable for the third and fourth German goals. Collectively, that is as bad as I have ever seen England defend. The first goal? To concede with a long ball from goalkeeper to striker, who needed one touch to poke it into the net, would be careless at Coca Cola Championship level. At international level? Completely unforgiveable.

CONTROVERSY OF THE DAY - Lampard's goal.

Frank Lampard's shot which rebounded off the underside of the bar and clearly over the line, raises the question, once again, off video technology. Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, was watching on, and hopefully he will finally start being swayed by the arguments for assisting the officials. But it would be wrong to think the outcome of the match would have been any different. If England had equalised, you never know how the match would have turned out. But they were comprehensively outclassed for the most part, and it would be wrong to leave South Africa with a sense of injustice - that will not address the problems in the English game.

FANTASY TEAM

Mesut Ozil gained six points thanks to his assist for the fourth German goal, but in reality, he deserved more than that for his overall performance. Ashley Cole didn't fare so well as he was in the English defence which shipped four goals for the first time in a World Cup match since 1954.