Germany 4 England 1
Full-time: Germany 4 (Klose 20. Podolski 32, Muller 67 70) England 1 (Upson 37)
Best morning prices
15-8 Germany Bet365, Totesport, Victor Chandler
7-4 England Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler
11-5 draw general
Market moves
There was a significant move against Germany, who drifted to 21-10 by kick-off with England supported into 17-10 and the draw also cut to 21-10.
Story of the first half
England immediately looked shaky at the back and Mesut Ozil drifted in behind Matthew Upson to get on the end of a long ball, with England lucky that he failed to connect well with his shot and allowed David James to make a save.
The warning sign wasn’t heeded, though, when a big punt from Manuel Neuer sailed over John Terry’s head and Upson was outmuscled by Miroslav Klose, who slid his shot into the net.
Gareth Barry finally tested Neuer, but Germany continued to dominate and tore through England twice more down the left either side of the half-hour.
James did well to keep out the first effort after Thomas Muller had fed Klose and then Muller cleverly squared for Lukas Podolski to score from a tight angle.
England looked dead and buried at that point, but their forward line finally clicked when Neuer pulled off a stunning save from Lampard after a terrific cross by Milner and then Upson headed in Steven Gerrard’s free kick.
Then came the moment of controversy when Lampard attempted an audacious chip which clipped the underside of the crossbar and came down well over the line before bouncing out.
Half-time betting
7-10 Germany Stan James
11-2 England Bet365, Stan James
13-5 draw Boylesports
Story of the second half
England began on the front foot and Lampard was unlucky again with a powerful free kick that struck the bar again, this time bouncing well out.
Fabio Capello’s side also started to cut through Germany more from open play, with Defoe and Milner both denied by last-ditch blocks, though the Germans still carried a real threat on the break with Muller seeing a shot deflected wide.
And they proved the point with a brilliantly-executed counter-attack for the third goal, quickly clearing another Lampard free kick to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who teed up Muller to drive in a shot which James should have stopped.
Three minutes later it was all over as Ozil was much quicker than Barry to reach a ball down the German right, skipping past the holding midfielder and running at a depleted England defence before again squaring for Muller.
That broke England’s spirit and Germany coasted through the closing stages, though Gerrard went close to a great individual goal.
Star of the show
ake your pick from Schweinsteiger, Ozil and Muller.
Schweinsteiger dictated play from midfield, while Ozil and Muller were brilliant at exposing England’s defensive shortcomings.
Villain of the piece
Upson was hopelessly out of his depth. His desperate positional play was responsible for much of England’s problems and he looked far too weak for Germany’s opener.
Ref watch
Jorge Larrionda can justifiably point to his assistant for not helping on Lampard’s goal and then gave England several soft decisions in a futile bid to make amends.
Pointers
Germany have a dazzling array of talent going forward, players with the poise and composure to destroy teams who are weak in defence.
But they may also have problems of their own at the back as they were briefly rocking either side of half-time even though there are far better teams than England in the competition.
Germany (4-2-3-1): Neuer 5; Lahm 7, Mertesacker 6, Friedrich 5, Boateng 6; Khedira 7, Schweinsteiger 8; Muller 8 (Trochowski 72, 5), Ozil 8 (Kiesling 83, 5), Podolski 7; Klose 7 (Gomez 72, 5).
England (4-4-2): James 6; Johnson 5 (Wright-Phillips 87, 5), Terry 6, Upson 3, A Cole 4; Milner 4 (J Cole 63, 5), Barry 5, Lampard 8, Gerrard 6; Rooney 5, Defoe 5 (Heskey 71, 5).
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) 5
Venue: Bloemfontein
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Half-time analysis: WHILE England fans will understandably be ruing the shocking decision not to allow Frank Lampard's brilliant goal, it remains the case that Germany should be outof sight by now.
England's defence has been a disaster, particularly down the left with Ashley Cole not looking his usual assured self and Matthew Upson hopelessly out of his depth.
Unless things improve dramatically Germany will rightly expect to score more goals, and with the spirit England showed in the final ten minutes of the half there's a strong possibility of the net bulging at both ends.
Recommendations
Over 4.5 goals, 1pt 6-5 Paddy Power
Over 5.5 goals, 0.5pt 4-1 Boylesports, Victor Chandler
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Team news-based analysis
ENGLAND have confirmed an unchanged line-up for today's clash with Germany, with Matthew Upson given the nod to start over Ledley King and Jamie Carragher.
Upson's inclusion certainly looks a better bet than Carragher, who may well have been exposed for pace by Germany's dangerous attack.
And Fabio Capello is clearly unwilling to risk King again having seen his inclusion backfire in the opening match against the USA.
There's also good news for Germany's backers with key midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger passed fit having been struggling with a hamstring injury, though that doesn't wash with punters, who have pushed England's price down to 17-10 from this morning's 7-4 with Germany out to 21-10 from 15-8.
The only change to the Germans' expected line-up sees Holger Badstuber, who began their first two matches at left-back, miss out to Jerome Boateng in that spot.
Badstuber's lack of pace was the worry on that flank, but James Milner rarely beats full-backs for speed anyway and Boateng, who is more comfortable in the centre, mayfind it hard to restrict the supply of crosses from that flank.
That will be good news for Jermain Defoe, who got on the end of a brilliant Milner cross against Slovenia, and he now looks fair value to score the first goal at 8-1.
Recommendation
J Defoe first goalscorer, 1pt 8-1 Stan James
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Best match prices at 11.15am: 7-4 England (Paddy Power), 21-10 Germany (Coral), 11-5 draw (Totesport)
Bookmakers are taking on Germany this morning - various prices for England and the draw are being clipped
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England produced a much-improved performance in their 1-0 victory over Slovenia and they have been installed as narrow 17-20 favourites to advance from their massive last-16 clash with Germany.
The Three Lions have been boosted by the news that all 23 players are available for selection and are no bigger than 17-10 to get the job done inside normal time.
Germany are dealing with a number of injury concerns and are definitely without Cacau, who has failed to recover from a stomach strain.
However, Miroslav Klose returns from suspension and he is no biggerthan 7-1 to notch the opening goal.
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Key facts:
England have conceded a first-half goal in only five of their last 40 competitive internationals.
Germany have won all of their last five penalty shootouts at World Cups and European Championships.
Germany have trailed at half-time in just one of their last 17 World Cup matches.
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