Millions watch England's worst World Cup defeat

Reuters

OH NO: England fans react while watching the World Cup soccer match against Germany on a large screen at the Glastonbury Festival.

Even bright sunshine and the hottest day of the year were unable to lift the spirits of England supporters after watching their team crash out of the World Cup to long-time rivals Germany 4-1.

Many fans had watched the match on open-air screens, and sat head-in-hands as the whistle blew on the humiliating scoreline. It was England's worst defeat in the tournament which they entered for the first time in 1950.

Germany, fuelled by a second half double from Thomas Mueller, crushed long-standing rivals England 4-1 in a controversy-filled World Cup encounter this morning to book a spot in the last eight.

There was anger that England were denied a second goal when a shot from Frank Lampard clearly crossed the line but an acknowledgement the team had been outplayed.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who broke away from G20 summit talks in Toronto to watch the match with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, admitted it was a ''disappointing'' result.
   
At the Glastonbury music festival, organisers set up two giant screens to cater for some 80,000 supporters - about half the total crowd - but some drifted away even before the end.
  
That was contrasted with excitement ahead of the match when fans queued for up to six hours before kickoff, despite sweltering temperatures.

Demand for places had been so great some fans were forced to listen to the action on the radio.
  
Still, the message from disappointed festival goers was that the show must go on.

''There is definitely more to life than football,'' said John Hutcheon, a 24-year-old from Hull who was wearing an England soccer shirt along with thousands of others.

''The atmosphere was good until we starting going downhill in the second half,'' he added.

- Reuters