The beginning of England's end was the John Terry, Wayne Bridge's girlfriend incident - Brian Minkoff-London Pixels photo

Germany's top scorer Miroslav Klose did the business scoring his side's first goal in their 4-1 thrashing of England - Florian K photo

SPORTS NOTES MAX Part 3 - GERMANY CHEWS UP & SPITS OUT ENGLAND

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

England became a dysfunctional squad and unraveled after John Terry had an affair with his former teammate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend. It all unraveled when they were chewed up and spit out by a more talented Germany squad who thrashed England 4-1 in the knockout round of 16. Frank Lampard's disallowed goal creates controversy - Capello draws criticism

Monday June 28, 2010

ENGLAND CRASH AND BURNS

All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty (England) back together again as Germany thrashed the pretty boys from England in the KNOCK OUT round of 16. It was a sad sight to see as England unraveled after a Frank Lampard goal was disallowed that would have tied the match. From that point on England became unglued and their defense was in shambles. Germany was clearly the superior side in every way. They were more determined, had better pace and physical. The side's average age is 25 compared to England who is aging.

Germany leading scorer Miroslav Klose opened their account in the 20th minute. Lukas Podolski followed with a goal in the 32nd minute. England's Matthew Upson tallied in the 37th minute followed by Lampard's not allowed goal that started the side's roller coaster ride down a slippery slope. The non goal seemed to take the drive out of The Three Lions as they looked like a headless horse in a pasture. That non goal will be one of the most talked about World Cup events of all time; we'll just refer to it as England's shoulda, woulda, coulda goal.

It prompted comments that FIFA should adopt goal line technology. CNN reporter Pedro Pinto interviewed FIFA president Sepp Blatter regarding the subject to which Blatter said there was no absolute technology available. Pinto talked extensively about the subject. Blatter told Pinto that the ball with a chip in it to be detected by a sensor was considered but Adidas the company that owns the technology doesn't want to share it with competing firms. Blatter noted that granting Adidas exclusive status wouldn't be fair.

England manager Fabio Capello was considered England's savior after he took the helm and led the side to a 9-1 record in qualifiers. They qualified for the World Cup by winning their first eight matches, including 4-1 and 5-1 victories against Croatia, who beat England two years prior, preventing them from qualifying for Euro 2008. Their sole defeat was in Ukraine after qualification had been secured. Capello's judgment in selecting the squad and some of his substitutions are being called into question. The Italian is now starting to receive the no respect treatment that was conveyed to Diego Maradona during Argentina's qualification games.

England really started to come apart at the seams when the John Terry incident having a relationship with his former teammate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend. That created media uproar and resulted in being a major distraction to the team. As a result of the incident Capello replaced Terry as the team's captain by appointing Steven Gerrard.

After a 0-0 draw with underdog Algeria Terry took it upon himself to call an unauthorized press conference in which he made embarrassing statements regarding their needed to be a meeting with Capello to iron out some differences between the manager and the team. His comments have been viewed as a challenge to Capello's leadership of a team. It was not his job to speak for the team he lost his position as the captain. Capello viewed Terry's actions as a big mistake.

Since the Bridge's girlfriend drama England lost their focus and purpose and Terry appears to be the underlying cause. The team comes off like Hollyweird stars more concerned about themselves and endorsements than being a cohesive functioning side that respects each other. It was the beginning of a house divided.

The next drama will be the media drumming up the fire Capello story and creating more chaos. Wayne Rooney's poor World Cup performance will also be another log to put on the fire. For England their will be a lot of talk, speculation and changes. For Germany they look strong and are serious contenders for the title. They would have defeated England under any circumstances non goal or not. They are by far the better team being cohesive, focused, young and talented.

NOTE

The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger was in attendance but that didn't help poor old England. Jagger must have been in South Africa searching for his brown sugar.

Part 1 - WORLD CUP SHOCKERS - FRANCE & ITALY EMBARRASSED

Part 2 - GHANA THE PRIDE OF AFRICA KO's USA - S. KOREA OUT JAPAN REMAINS FOR ASIA