Two years on and one of the biggest myths in English football history is still alive and well. England’s most recent tournament match brought a 4-1 defeat by Germany at the 2010 World Cup finals. It was a fairly even game, but it is impossible to find any deviation from the claim that England deserved their heavy defeat.
That seemed inaccurate at the time and two video reruns of the whole game, the second forensic, confirm that impression. Each team either scored or nearly scored seven times.
For Germany: four goals; David James saves twice with his feet; Steven Gerrard blocks Miroslav Klose’s close-range shot. For England: two goals (counting Frank Lampard’s unrewarded shot that crosses the line); two crossbar strikes (a Lampard free kick; a Jermain Defoe header as an errant offside flag is waved); close-range shots by Lampard and Gareth Barry that hit unwitting opponents; Manuel Neuer’s fingertip save from Gerrard.
Removing the refereeing errors, the basic difference between the teams, therefore, was the width of the crossbar on two occasions. Expand the analysis to reflect overall pressure, if you wish, though this is obviously less important than the above. But, for what it is worth, England had seven shots on target to Germany’s six, and 18 shots in total to Germany’s 17. Possession is not really a factor, but, for the record, England had far more of it — 55.2 per cent to 44.8 per cent.
OK, you could take the (dubious) stance that the team who score the most goals always deserve to win. But that belief can’t be held by those stating that Germany deserved to beat England because there would be no need to point out what is self-evident from the scoreline.
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Asserting, correctly, that Mezut Özil was more skilful and faster than Barry in midfield is irrelevant to this debate because it did not lead to Germany creating any more danger than England. It is no more pertinent than mentioning (which no one does) how Philipp Lahm, the Germany full back, repeatedly gave the ball away.
Yet it seems that for ever more that England will be considered to have been overwhelmed by Germany. Will Euro 2012 produce any myths to match it?
ONE-SIDED PRIVATE BATTLE
Over the last World Cup as a whole, Germany were far superior to England and improved a record that England will hope to dent in the coming weeks. In the 21 World Cups and European Championships from 1970 onwards, Germany have advanced farther than England 19 times; England did so once (Euro 2004) and they both exited at the group stage at Euro 2000.
ELEVEN HAD THE LEGS
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Germany guaranteed one of these “successes” over England by beating them in a semi-final penalty shoot-out at Euro ’96. Extra time was played yet England did not use a substitute in that match, which remains the most recent game — including those lasting 90 minutes — in which they kept their starting XI on the pitch throughout.
MINUTE BY MINUTE
You could attend the theatre regularly all your life without witnessing the commemoration of a death, but, for some reason, football maintains this tradition, paying tribute to people inside or outside the game. Of the past 100 England matches, 12 have been preceded by a minute’s silence or minute’s applause (and in a further three, England players have worn black armbands without a minute’s silence or applause). English football is more of a driving force than its counterparts elsewhere. Of those 12 instances, eight related to England and only two to their opponents (the deaths of a French television commentator and a Northern Ireland player’s father), with the other two cases connected to a matter affecting neither of the two nations involved.
DOFF YOUR CAP
In a lengthy discussion about England’s best players of the past 20 years, the name of Gareth Southgate would be unlikely to appear. But if you put Southgate in one room while in another room you put Gerry Francis, Peter Reid, Mike Summerbee, Dennis Tueart, Charlie George, Tommy Smith and Andrew Cole, which room would have the most England caps? Answer: Southgate’s room (57 caps to 56).
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STICKING TOGETHER
John Terry and Ashley Cole, who are likely to play next to each other in England’s defence, are Chelsea team-mates born two weeks apart in December 1980. Stewart Downing and Glen Johnson, who may play next to each other on England’s right flank, are Liverpool team-mates born five weeks apart in the summer of 1984.