links for 2010-06-28

High-tech meets low tech and the coolest accessory for your phone was born. iPlunge is the perfect solution for your video emergencies — just squish it against the back of your iPod®, iPhone®, or any device with a smooth hard surface, sit back, and smile.

As Gary Lineker once said: “Football is a simple game, 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win.”

“An abject performance,” said Gary Lineker. “You cannot believe how bad England were,” said Alan Hansen (who’d told us pre-match that the Germans “are an average side and are eminently beatable”). “I don’t know where to start . . . they were hopeless from start to finish,” said Alan Shearer. “Defensively, it was the worst team performance I’ve ever seen,” said Lee Dixon. “Shambolic, it really was,” said Hansen. “Quite frankly it was awful,” agreed Dixon. “They could have lost by five or six,” said Hansen. Dixon disagreed. “They could have lost seven, eight, quite easily,” he sighed.

WORLD CUP 2010: ROUND OF 16: GERMANY 4 ENGLAND 1: THE BIG pieces of hardware lining the roads in Bloemfontein to promote the local military museum set just the tone the English fans like to adopt for clashes with their old enemy. If they viewed the Free State Stadium as a battleground yesterday, though, few of those who had travelled so far to support Fabio Capello’s side can have avoided the conclusion that his side were completely routed over the course of their latest 90 minutes engagement with the Germans.