Monday, June 28, 2010

England - a monument to mediocrity

Phil McNulty, BBC Sport's chief football writer, breaks down the failings of the England football team in a very interesting blog...

If England carry a burning sense of injustice as part of their baggage on the long flight home from South Africa on Monday night, Fabio Capello and his players will fool only themselves.

Capello's complaint about the incompetence of officialdom after England's humiliating last-16 exit against Germany was little more than a flimsy fig leaf when it came to disguising shortcomings exposed in a World Cup campaign that was a monument to mediocrity.

England's coach, of course, had every right to draw attention to one of the worst decisions in the tournament's history as a mitigating factor in their eventual defeat by a vastly-superior Germany.

Capello must not think, however, that Uruguayan linesman Mauricio Espinosa's failure to spot Frank Lampard's clever finish dropping well behind Manuel Neuer's goalline with the score at 2-1 was a defining moment that somehow blocked England's path to glory.

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