BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa — Germany’s latest World Cup victory over England will be remembered not for any of the brilliant goals but for one that didn’t count.
Ask anyone — players, coaches, thousands of fans in the stadium and millions more watching on television — and there’s little question that Frank Lampard put a shot in the net late in the first half that would have tied the score at 2-2 on Sunday.
But referee Jorge Larrionda waved play on, and Germany used two second-half goals by Thomas Mueller for a 4-1 victory. The Germans are headed to the quarterfinals while the English are shaking their heads in disbelief.
“It’s incredible,” England coach Fabio Capello said. “We played with five referees, and they can’t decide if it’s a goal or no goal. The game was different after this goal. It was the mistake of the linesman, and I think the referee, because from the bench I saw the ball go (in).”
Germany coach Joachim Loew couldn’t argue that point.
“What I saw on the television, this ball was behind the line,” Loew said. “It must have been given as goal.”
It wasn’t.
“The goal was very important,” Capello said. “We could have played a different style. We made some mistakes. The referee made bigger mistakes.”
Argentina 3, Mexico 1
JOHANNESBURG — Carlos Tevez scored twice — once on a disputed goal — and Gonzalo Higuain added another as the Albiceleste moved into the quarterfinals.
With Mexico getting the best scoring chances early on, Tevez headed in a pass from Lionel Messi in the 26th minute from close range. One problem: He was clearly offside. Higuain scored in the 33rd minute, and Tevez added one in the 52nd for Argentina.
Mexico’s Javier Hernandez scored in the 71st minute.
The Associated Press
