When Frank Lampard's 'ghost goal' against Germany caused massive stir in football history

English football legend Frank Lampard is widely known as one of best footballers of his generation, as his long and illustrious career as a player consisted of many iconic moments. Notably, Lampard went on to represent Three Lions in a total of three FIFA World Cups, 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions. Interestingly, one of most remembered moments of Lampard’s international career came during 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, when he was denied a goal against Germany.

During Round of 16 match between Germany and England on June 27, 2010, England found mselves trailing at 2-1 at 37th minute when Lampard came up with a brilliant strike. Lampard struck shot hard from edge of penalty area, which struck underside of bar, as TV replays showed ball bouncing a yard behind Germany’s goal line.

To much surprise of England and Lampard, referee waved play on and h to bear damage, before ending up on losing side with a 4-1 margin. However, Lampard’s ‘ghost goal’ created a massive stir in international football, as FIFA and its referees were criticized for standards. This followed introduction of goal-time technology during 2014 World Cup in Brazil and introduction of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) during 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Watch Frank Lampard's goal vs Germany that was never given:

A look at Frank Lampard's international career

Having me his debut for England in October 1999 at age of 21-year-old, Lampard played a total of 106 games for national team and returned with 29 goals. He played his last international game during FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil and ended his career as a player a few years later. He currently serves as manager of Premier League team Everton and has also managed clubs like Derby and Chelsea after his retirement in 2017.

Semi-automated VAR offside technology to be used in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

With FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 scheduled to begin from November, International Football Association Board ( IFAB), two weeks ago, announced that Artificial Intelligence-driven semi-automated VAR offside technology will be used in forthcoming edition. Under new technology developed by FIFA, time taken to make an offside decision will be reduced to 3-4 seconds, while it took almost four minutes to arrive at a conclusion earlier.

Shedding his thoughts about semi-automated VAR offside technology FIFA’s he of refereeing Pierluigi explained about process. "It uses same process as goal-line technology, and we have seen that is very well accepted by football community, nobody comments on this. We are confident that same reaction, in terms of acceptance, can be given to semi-automated offside,” he said.

(Image: @England/Twitter/AP)