At 22:00 on the evening of June 27th, Beijing time, the third 1/8 final of the World Cup in South Africa was held between Germany and England. This game was held at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. The following is the starting lineup of Germany and England:

Germany: 4231 Head coach: Loew

Goalkeeper: 1-Neuer

Defender: 16-Ra Tom (captain), 17-Per Mertesacker, 3-A-Friedrich, 20-Jerome Boateng

Back midfielder: 6-Khedira, 7-Schwei Insteiger

Forward: 13-Thomas Muller, 8-Ozil, 10-Podolski

Forward: 11-Klose

England: 442 Head coach: Capello

Goalkeeper: 1-James

Defenders: 2-Glenn Johnson, 15-Upson, 6-Terry , 3-Ashley Cole

Forward: 4-Gerrard (captain), 8-Lampard, 14-Barry, 16-Milner

Forward: 19-Defoe, 10-Rooney

Referee: Larionda (Uruguay)

This battle between England and Germany is a cruel portrait of England's World Cup. Coach Capello takes office The offensive and defensive system they had built during the qualifying rounds was gone, and there was a huge gap between them and the German team in terms of overall tactical formulation and personal technical performance. That helpless misjudgment will not and should not become a "fig leaf". Fans were surprised to see that this England team had a weak defense, a degenerate midfield, and an incompetent forward. After four games, Gerrard and James were the only ones who could barely be considered passable.

The first thing that was terrible in this battle was the series of amateur mistakes made by the defense. The first goal conceded was simply a disaster, and the confidence was severely hit. Terry and Upson have been partnering in the peripheral rounds, performed well on the field, and gained Capello's trust. No longer rotating the central defender combination, I thought it would be able to lay a stable foundation, but Terry seemed to be sleepwalking and made repeated mistakes throughout the game. Although Upson scored a goal, he lacked tacit understanding with Terry and the door in the middle was wide open. Midfielder Barry was responsible for two of the goals conceded. Although the German team's counterattack was very good, during the defensive process, the English players forgot that they could use fouls to disrupt the opponent's rhythm and buy valuable time for their teammates to return to defense. It may be that Barry has not yet reached the level he should have after returning from injury. Fans will miss England's best player in the last World Cup even more: Hargreaves. It is no exaggeration to say that their entire defensive system collapsed. No wonder former England full-back Dixon lamented that this was the worst defensive game he had ever seen by the "Three Lions".

On the offensive side, there should be two goals in this game, but more often we see the central defender blindly launch a long pass attack, confusion when holding the ball at his feet, and ground coordination because he has no footwork or technique. Even if there is a gap in the protection, it cannot be used. The four forwards only scored one goal in four games. The forwards are incompetent! Rooney is the arrow of the offense. In the four games, he was unable to effectively complete the task of center. His basic passing transfer and dribbling skills were not as impressive as he was during the season. Not to mention scoring goals, there were not many shots on target. . Defoe is Capello's gamble. If it works for Slovenia, it doesn't mean that he can exert his power in such a high-level confrontation. After all, he has never been used as a starter in the qualifying games! In the end, when the offense needed to be strengthened, replacing Heskey, who couldn't score goals, was also a failure. Poor Crouch, who has the highest scoring efficiency in international competitions among active players, has become a "secret" weapon. In the Liverpool team, Gerrard has become a victim of the "all-around midfielder". It has been repeatedly shown in the group matches that England's threatening central attack basically comes from his performance. But placing him on the left again and again not only makes this offense rely solely on full-back Ashley Cole, but also easily causes congestion in the middle. When the striker is weak, Gerrard must play in the middle, whether as a shadow forward or as a central midfielder. This painful lesson cost Capello a huge price.

As the coach of the three armies, Capello cannot shirk his responsibility. When he took office, he set the goal of "top four", and this time he claimed to be here to win the championship. However, the four games were unable to allow these stars to perform at the same level as during the qualifiers. They were unable to use the offensive and defensive problems exposed before and during the World Cup. There was no "Plan B" when several core players led by Rooney were in a sluggish state. Leading to a disastrous defeat. The Football Association has previously renewed his contract. If they want to "fire" Kashuai, they will face huge compensation. They can only continue to trust Capello or hope that he will resign. England's "golden generation" also needs to reflect on why, from Eriksson and McLaren to the famous coach Capello, they have never been able to become a unit with strong combat effectiveness, and why they have been unable to bring their club status to the national level. Team. Since the 1996 European Championships, the England team has not had results that satisfy fans in major competitions. The Premier League, known as the "first league in the world", and the FA, which arranges the FA Cup, may also need to listen to the opinions of all parties to see if the overly heavy schedule has caused the English players to be overloaded. At the end of the season, they have already " "The power is exhausted", will we also have to arrange a mid-season "winter break" in the future? But one thing is foreseeable. After this World Cup, former main players like James, Lampard, and Heskey will gradually fade out of the England lineup. Players such as Joe Hart, Lennon, and Crouch should be reused.

Looking forward to England's friendly match against Hungary on August 11 and the European Championship qualifying match against Bulgaria on September 3. They will have completely different looks.