Franz Beckenbauer was happy to twist the knife into England after Germany's 4-1 victory yesterday.

The Bayern Munich chief could not help himself further taunting England's players after the triumph.

"England were overwhelmed - they just could not come to terms with our style of play," he said.

"We have taken England apart. We were simply better in every aspect."

Matthew Upson had given England some hope with a goal which made it 2-1 before the break, after Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski had put Germany 2-1 up.

It should have been 2-2 just seconds later when Frank Lampard's lob cannoned down off the underside of the crossbar and over the line.

However, unlike in 1966, the goal was not given and a Thomas Muller double put the seal on a comfortable win for Germany.

And Beckenbauer was relieved that Germany had added two more goals to render that Lampard strike insignificant.

"The linesman really has to see the that goal which was not given," he said. "It was a clear goal.

"Fortunately, we added two more, otherwise there would be a lot more discussion about it."