Well, there it goes. England are out of the World Cup. Of course, it’s not really surprising. Despite a relatively easy group and a team of supposedly world-class players, we struggled to convince in qualifying for the knockout stages. Did we really think we were going to beat Germany?
Well, I did, briefly, during the rally in the first half where we came back from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2. Or at least, that’s what should’ve happened. If it had, as crap as we were playing, it would have been a turning point in the game. We’d have come out in the second half without the desperate need for a goal which saw us stretch our embarrassingly lax defence, and we might have been able to snatch a winner. Or crash out on penalties like we usually do.
We can only hope that this incident is enough for FIFA to look again at implementing goal-line technology. It’s a disgrace that that sort of decision can be allowed to stand at a sporting event like the World Cup. People accuse pro wrestling of being silly because of what happens when the referee is knocked down, and yet it happens all the time in football. Rugby, cricket, tennis, even snooker have implemented some kind of technology in order to ensure that the right call is made. How are we supposed to promote good sportsmanship and fair play when we have people like Thierry Henry teaching us that cheating is okay, as long as you get away with it? Had that ‘disallowed’ goal been the difference between the two teams and seen England crashing out then the English FA should have seriously considered installing goal-line tech in the Premiership against FIFA’s wishes, or refused to participate in the Euro Championships in 2012 (I know the latter sounds a bit drastic, but something needs to change. It’s not like we’d win it anyway).
Still, we didn’t deserve to win it. Now we can get on with enjoying this World Cup. England, in failing to qualify for the 2008 European Championships, made a huge mistake. Not in letting their fans down or damaging our reputation, but because it showed us in the UK that you don’t need your home team to be in the championships for it to be an enjoyable tournament. Euro 2008 was the most enjoyable championship I’ve seen, because England weren’t around stressing us out with dodgy performances and stinking up the field. So let’s sit back, and relish in Brazil, Spain and Argentina showing us how a World Cup should be played.
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