Thank you football Gods!... Frank Lampard's goal that never was is payback for 1966 World Cup, jibe German press

By Sportsmail Reporter
Updated: 07:47 EDT, 28 June 2010

The Germans have a word for it: schadenfreude - deriving pleasure from the misfortune of others.

And the press from Hamburg to Bavaria wasted no time in revelling in England's World Cup misery after the Three Lions 4-1 last 16 defeat on Sunday.

The injustice of Frank Lampard being denied an equaliser  - at 2-1 down - when his first-half shot clearly crossed the line, was seen as payback by our friends across the Channel.

History repeating: Geoff Hurst's goal in the 1966 World Cup final (top) and Frank Lampard's goal-that-never-was against Germany in Bloemfontein on Sunday

Gloating: Bild newspaper's website

'Thank you, football God,' said the website of tabloid paper Bild. 'After 44 years, Wembley is finally repaid. Now the English know how we felt all this time.'

Far from being unfair, the Germans saw the Lampard non-goal as justice for Geoff Hurst's similar strike in the 1966 World Cup final, which helped England lift the trophy in controversial circumstances.

'Now we are quits,' said the Westdeutsche Allgemeine and Welt newspapers.
Such has been Germany's reluctance to forget about Hurst's goal, any strike which bounces down on or over the goalline is known as a 'Wembley goal' - but, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung: 'Wembley is now called Bloemfontein.'

Wunderbar: The Rheinische Post (left) and Hamburg's Morgenpost

'Everything would have been different had the referee allowed the goal which would have made it 2-2 in the 38th minute,' admitted the Suddeutsche.

'It is a game which made history, but will not be consigned to the history books yet: this story is going to be told differently in Germany and in England - there is going to be an eternal "what would have happened if" scenario.

It's all a blur: Germany fans celebrate in Berlin

Italian verdict: La Gazzetta dello Sport sympathises with Fabio Capello

'This game recounted the entire history of all duels between these two teams, from the Wembley defeat to the 1-5 in Munich, with dramatic shots against the crossbar and wonderful goals on the counter - only all of that is not going to mean anything thanks to this refereeing error.'

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung instead preferred to focus on Germany's merits in a 'fairytale 4-1 win over England'.

'This was the national team's first major international maturity test, and  they passed it with distinction,' wrote the FAZ. 'It is Low's merit and he should carry on his job.'

Young Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller was equally praiseworthy for his two goals and one assist, completing a remarkable story which, just one year ago, saw him kicking around in the Bavarian club's reserve team.

'He has forced world class players like Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose out of the FC Bayern starting XI,' explained the Welt newspaper.

The failure by Uruguayan officials to award England a valid goal in their World Cup last-16 clash with Germany yesterday has been described as a "gross error" by a newspaper column in the South American country.

And in Uruguay, they say sorry..

Uruguayan newspaper El Pais called on their FA and FIFA to send a letter of apology to England for the mistake by the refereeing team from their country.

It berated world football's governing body for refusing to allow the use of video technology but admitted that referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistant Mauricio Espinosa should have given a goal when Lampard's effort crossed the line.

Diego Perez, a columnist, wrote: 'This could be defined as a gross error made by the group of officials, led by Jorge Larrionda. It's a shame because the pictures went around the world in seconds and all the good that had been done by the trio up to that moment has been knocked down by that fateful moment.

'They are 80 centimetres which will forever be part of the black history of the World Cup. The issue will not go away within hours.'