At the hands of a young German team, England took a royal beating as they were knocked out of the World Cup after losing 4-1 at Bloemfontein on Sunday.

Thomas Mueller scored twice for Germany while teammates Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski added to the scoreboard. England’s lone goal came from Matthew Upson.

If history repeated itself, England would have won. The last time they met was 1966 and the three lions won the World Cup. These two heavyweights met once again and it was not a good reception for the English this time around.

It only took Klose 20 minutes to find the back of the net after taking a pitch length ball from goalie Manuel Neuer. Klose was able to nudge pass England’s John Terry and score his 12th World Cup goal, fourth overall in all time goals putting Germany up 1-0.

An unmarked Podolski made it 2-0 for Germany after a spot- on Mueller pass. England quickly to strike back when Frank Lampard deflected a crossed ball but Neuer was there for the save.

When two powerhouse teams meet, there’s bound to be drama. Once again the spotlight was on the referees.

Upson headed home a ball in the 37^th minute to cut the German advantage to one. Momentum seemed to be turning onto England’s side.

England midfielder Frank Lampard thought he had equalized the game and began to celebrate when the linesman called it back. It was an appalling call as t­­­he ball clearly went over the goal line after it hit the crossbar. Manager Capello along with his team was dumbfounded.

Had the goal stood, it could have been a completely different game.  Lampard fired a free-kick off the crossbar in the 57th minute for England’s last vital  chance of the match . The Chelsea player will dream about his misses and the goal the should have been for a long time.

20- year- old Mueller quickly crushed any dreams of a comeback as he scored in the 66^th and 70^th minute of the game.

Besides establishing the German team as very strong contenders, it also showed the human error part of the game. This game brought up the question of whether video technology should come into play for calls such as Lampard’s goal. A debate that will most certainly get heated now.

Up next for the Germans is a date in the quarter- finals with Argentina.