The 2010 World Cup is still something of a sore subject for England fans.
Going into the tournament, there was cautious optimism among supporters, but that faded remarkably quickly once the action started.
Despite the squad being littered with world-class players and led by Fabio Capello – one of the greatest managers in history – England were absolutely woeful out in South Africa.
The Three Lions drew their first two group games against United States of America and Algeria, before unconvincingly beating Slovenia 1-0 to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament.
In the last-16, England were drawn against an old foe in Germany and to say they went out with a whimper is a serious understatement.
Capello’s side were thrashed 4-1 by a young, fearless Die Mannschaft side, Thomas Muller bagging two of the goals.
England were hopeless for pretty much the entirety of the 90 minutes in Bloemfontein, aside from Matt Upson’s header and Frank Lampard‘s goal that infamously wasn’t given by the linesman, despite the fact the ball went about five yards over the line.
One moment that summed up Germany’s dominance over the Three Lions came in the second half, when Mesut Ozil was made to look like Usain Bolt by Gareth Barry.
Ozil absolutely destroyed his opponent in a foot race to reach the ball and he then proceeded to put it on a plate for Muller, who duly beat David James in the England goal.
For English people, the footage is still as haunting as it was nearly 12 years ago…
Video: Ozil vs Barry at the 2010 World Cup
Loooooooool this was so rude 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/GdFXsbGFI9
— Tony Soprano (@SVCarbaholic) June 23, 2021
Barry had a considerable head start on Ozil, but his impression of a man running through treacle allowed the German playmaker to burst past him and orchestrate a match-winning counterattack.
The former Manchester City man probably should have just fouled Ozil and taken a yellow card for the team.
Hindsight really is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
The 2010 World Cup was where Ozil showed everybody that he was one of the best footballers on the planet at the age of just 21.
Real Madrid quickly snapped him up from Werder Bremen that same summer following his stellar displays across South Africa.
Ozil was electric at Los Blancos for three years, assisting goals for fun and forging a lethal partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo.
