My official response to the match:
I will begin by quoting Andy Murray, when asked about the match at half-time:
'I would like to see England win, but Germany did look pretty good. But you never know in a knockout. England have got the players to win the match but they just need to play well.'
He's absolutely right. But we just didn't play as well as we could have done. I agree with the pre-match analysis that man for man, the English team is better, but when on a field under pressure the team cohesion just did not come through. The Germans were well coordinated and had options. I also completely agree with the post-match analysis that we were weak on defence - the worst defence ever known! The Germans shall receive credit for a convincing win, as I would expect the same if the positions were reversed.
The only factor I think that needs to remain in consideration is that if it wasn't for the disallowed goal that would have equalised the score before half-time (and it WAS a goal; nobody in their right mind could say it wasn't) then I think our team spirit and hope, and MOTIVATION would have carried us into the second-half with an optimism that could have improved our chances.
Instead I believe that the anger over the disallowed goal affected the team's performance and clouded our judgement. It's like one of the commentators here said during the break "If we allow anger to enter the field we are going to make bad decisions in the second half" - and we did make awful decisions. However, although important that this point remains in consideration, the Germans played very well and we must be fair and give credit where it is due.
To close, I am in a fortunate position tonight in contrast to other England fans because I can now turn my hopes and attention to my second country Mexico this evening. For me it's not all over yet! Good luck Mexico!
