england hard done by - football, page-5

For those who actually had their eyes open, were paying attention to what they were seeing, who have even the slightest knowledge of the sport, who aren't blinded by hatred for the poms,and who actually watched the game in its entirety, it was clear for all to see the influence the referee and linesmen had on the outcome of the match.

Just as the officials were the best German players in the opening game against Australia, albeit with some help from Schwarzer, so they were the best German players against England.

The free kick that Lampard took before anyone had scored was a clear penalty for handball but it went completely unnoticed.

Then Germany took the ball straight down the other end and scored and then added a second.

England to their credit then scored their first and then Lampard scored only to have the goal go by unnoticed...whether it was the FIFA directive, plain cheating or just incompetence on the part of the referee and linesmen, it was ugly.

If that wasn't bad enough Germany's third goal was clearly offside.

Add to that the number of times England hit the woodwork and the true reflection of the game was anything but a 4-1 demolition derby.

Justice caught up with Germany the last time injustices occurred in the form of a 1-0 loss to Serbia and hopefully the same will happen against Argentina, and it will be worth it if only to see a repeat of Louw's psychotic performances on the sidelines as per the Serbia game.

This German side isn't as good as some people think and they certainly aren't as good as media reports suggest. Scorelines can be misleading, especially so when the match officials have so much impact on the games Germany play against their opponents.

The non-decision on the goal to Lampard was a huge moment in the game as it would have seen England draw level 2-2 close to half-time and with all the momentum.

If that non-decision wasn't bad enough then Germany's third goal being clearly offside but called good anyway was....those two events alone would take the wind out of anyone's sails and so they did to England as well.

Beating Germany is hard enough as it is as no matter how ordinary their line-up is on paper compared to the players that came before them, they will always be competitive, but having the match officials on their side too...c'mon!

The performance of the match officials in this tournament game after game after game after game has been woeful and is a major turn off.

I have seen Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US, Uruguay and now England, to name just six, being shafted by appalling performances from match officials, with only Uruguay triumphing against the odds of also having the match officials miss a handball that should have resulted in a penalty, call an offside that was clearly onside that would have led to a goal, and to fail to recognise Diego Forlan's shot that the South Korean keeper took inside his own net.

Is such a high level of incompetence across so many match officials reflective of the standing or lack thereof of quality match officials around the world, can they really all be THAT BAD or is there something more sinister at play here that I have always thought to be the case....the FIFA directive...FIFA having designs on who they want to progress and who they don't.

I hope that the country that wins the World Cup does so because they are the best team in the tournament and that they achieved what they did through hard work, skill and team work, not because they were given a free ride by the match officials.

I won't be holding my breath but I am hoping for such an outcome which by its very nature would see the elimination of Germany before the final because if they were to qualify yet alone win it, it would be one of the greatest miscarriages of justice I have ever seen on a sporting field.