Look beyond the goal-line

KARACHI: While many believe that the disallowed goal proved to be the turning point of the dismal last-16 thumping, it remained a lucky incident for England.

The ball may have landed a foot, or two, behind the goal-line, but England’s defence, or midfield and attack, were left stranded miles from what their followers expected from a top-10 side in the 2010 World Cup. And that goal, briefly, bore the brunt of the supporters’ fury.

Three goals from four mat-ches from a line-up boasting Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Jermaine Defoe. All four, injuries permitting, had played a pivotal role in their clubs’ performance in the Premier League. For the global event, they failed to get started. While Lampard and Gerrard reminded Capello how there is no space in the eleven for both of them, Rooney again suffered tournament-blues and his trickery for the Red Devils became a distant memory.

As Capello termed the referee’s blunder “one of the biggest mistakes”, Robert Green’s blooper in England’s tournament-opener sparked a sorry start to a woeful campaign. Although David James restored sanity, the record-loss against Germany, was marred by deplorable defending.

Former captain John Terry, England’s wall in the absence of captain Rio Ferdinand, was simply poor. Often concerned with attacking, he regularly lost his men and was found  ahead of Rooney and Gerrard as England backtracked in the event of a counter-attack.

How Capello would have wished for a fully-fit David Beckham, donning the England red and not the grey team-suit at the flanks, too, failed to deliver with pin-point accuracy and the corners fell unutilised.

A team looking shaky on arrival courtesy off-the-field controversies looked severely vulnerable and off the mark as the tournament progressed. In the end, a tearful Beckham, remonstrating with the referee, and the score-line was an apt reflection of how over-rated, lacklustre and un-penetrative England really were.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2010.