91Èȱ¬

Fans dismayed as England crash out of the World Cup

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England are out of the World Cup after losing 4-1 to Germany in South Africa, leaving millions of fans disappointed.

Controversially, England were not given a goal when 2-1 down, despite the ball crossing the line, and Germany will now face Argentina in the quarter finals.

It was England's worst World Cup finals defeat - many echoed fan Darren Garner who said they did not "have the heart".

England manager Fabio Capello has said he will not resign but will seek a meeting with the FA about his future.

Millions of fans watched the match in homes, pubs and outdoor arenas.

And 80,000 festival-goers ditched music for the sport at Glastonbury.

Chancellor's apology

Two goals from Thomas Muller, plus strikes from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, secured the Germans' passage into the World Cup quarter finals.

But the match was marred by Frank Lampard's goal that never was, and the controversial decision is likely to increase calls for goal mouth video technology.

Shortly after Matthew Upson pulled one back for England, TV replays showed Lampard's shot, which hit the underside of the bar, was well over the goal line.

Speaking at the post-match news conference, Capello - who is bound to come under intense scrutiny after the crushing defeat - was critical of the referee's decision and said it changed the game.

"We played with the five referees that can't decide if it's goal or no goal," he said. "I think the mistake of the linesman - but I also think the referee's - because from the bench I saw the ball go over the net."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel apologised to UK Prime Minister David Cameron for the disallowed goal.

The two leaders watched the second half of the game together at the G20 summit in Canada.

Mr Cameron later appeared to support calls to introduce video technology to the sport.

He said: "I do think the use of technology in sport can be a bonus. I'm a keen follower of cricket and tennis and I think the third umpire has been a great thing, and the machines that bleep at Wimbledon are quite handy too.

"Maybe that's something that football could now have a look at."

Image caption,

The game was more thrilling for Chancellor Merkel than David Cameron

Speaking about England's defeat, he added: "At least we can't say we were robbed, we weren't, we were beaten."

Among the disconsolate fans leaving the Bloemfontein stadium was Mr Garner, a 26-year-old digger driver from Peterborough, who said: "We're supposed to be Three Lions but we did not seem to have the heart.

"We looked old and useless. They looked young and fresh."

His friend, Damien Masham, 26, a window cleaner from Peterborough, said he was "absolutely devastated".

"They perform at club level but when it comes to internationals they look like a Sunday league side," he said.

"We paid a lot of money to come here; you just start to wonder if it's worth it."

Fans' behaviour praised

Three friends who paid between £5,000 and £8,000 each to follow England in South Africa said the defeat marked the end of an era after more than 12 years of support.

One told 91Èȱ¬ News: "I think that's it for us now. We've backed England, we've payed a lot of money for the past 12 or 14 years, and I can't see where we're getting our reward from."

Image caption,

England fans at Glastonbury may wish they had stuck with the music

His friend said he could not keep "shelling out" thousands of pounds and travelling thousands of miles.

"We're not students any more, we can't take months and months off to follow England. I think it's the end of a generation, not just for the players but for the fans as well."

91Èȱ¬ sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar in Bloemfontein said many fans complained about the players, their pay and their performances on the pitch.

"The refereeing mistake that cost England a goal seemed to be at the front of people's minds as they left the stadium," he said.

"But it wasn't just the referee's performance that fans wanted to complain about. Much of what was being said about the team was unprintable."

Self-deprecation

Despite their disappointment, the UK police delegation in Bloemfontein said there had been no reports of arrests or trouble by fans after the game.

Assistant chief constable Andy Holt said: "I'm massively impressed by the way England fans have reacted... we've not had any trouble whatsoever.

"Given the manner of the defeat and the score, I was expecting it might be quite tense after the game.

"But the England fans were engaging in an orgy of self-deprecation - they really weren't in any way aggressive towards the German supporters."

At Glastonbury, organisers were forced to find another field to show the match after discussions with police.

The 91Èȱ¬'s Ian Youngs said the 80,000-strong gathering across the two fields was bigger than the crowd for any musical act at the weekend, but early excitement quickly turned to disillusionment.

Jess Stratford, from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, said it was "disappointing to say the least" but at least the former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash had provided a "good soundtrack" to the match.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson said England had "hardly performed" during the tournament.

"Once the dust has settled, I hope the FA take a long hard look at the reasons why, and Fifa reassess their opposition to using goal-line technology," he said.