Oh dear, oh dear oh dear. You can look even cursorily at six different stills of this incident and be in no doubt that the ball obviously crosses the line. Everybody knew it has crossed the line. The fans in the stands, supporters watching of television, even the players. Unfortunately for Englands World Cup hopes in 2010, Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda and his linesmen didnt quite see it that way as Frank Lampards shot was perplexingly chalked out. Lampards shot from the edge of the box had hit the underside of Manuel Neuers bar and cannoned a foot over the goal line, and while the midfielder, his colleagues and manager Fabio Capello celebrated getting back into the game, Larridonda was not impressed. At 2-0 down, this would have brought the scores back to 2-1 and given the Three Lions hope of overturning the deficit, but as Larridonda waved away Englands furious protests, morale, and any wavering confidence of recovery, dissipated. Germany went on to in 4-1 and while they were fully deserving of their victory having been superior on the day, you still cannot shake that bitter feeling of what if, even almost four years on. Some cynical supporters will point out however that this controversy merely made up for another refereeing mistake, some 44 years earlier
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
