Huddersfield watches England v Germany - picture gallery and reaction

Jun 28 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Huddersfield football legends speak of the “disgrace” of England’s 4-1 defeat to Germany in World Cup finals

THE fans who had packed the pubs were in despair.

And well-known football figures in Huddersfield spoke of the “disgrace” and “disappointment” as England lost to old enemies Germany in their heaviest defeat in World Cup finals history.

England’s hopes of lifting the cup were shattered in a 4-1 defeat in Bloemfontein, South Africa, as Germany tore down their defence.

Former Huddersfield Town player Keith Hanvey spoke of the “criminal” decision not to recognise a Frank Lampard goal which would have brought the teams to level-pegging at half-time.

In the 39th minute the Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistant Mauricio Espinosa failed to notice the ball hitting the crossbar and bouncing more than a foot over the line.

Keith said: “It was a horrendous decision and it would have changed the whole game. It was just absolutely criminal.

“Who knows what would have happened after that if it had been given as a goal? I think if we had we probably would have gone on to win it.

“The Germans would have been right down and we would have been on an up.

Despite the ghost goal, Keith said England had performed badly during the tournament.

He said: “I’m a very passionate England fan and have watched them for many years.

“But I think our players just haven’t performed when we want them to.

“Three goals were as a result of naïve defending and one was from a long ball down the middle which really shouldn’t be happening in international football.

“We have some good players, but they just haven’t stepped up to the mark and our big players like Rooney and Lampard haven’t performed”.

Town chairman Dean Hoyle agreed that the England players hadn’t stepped up to the mark.

He said: “It was disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. I’ve just listened to Fabio Capello’s post-match press conference and he said they played well.