FIFA World Cup 2010: Inside Frank Lampard's Pain!

I am absolutely destroyed for this man...Frank Lampard. I've been following his career for the last six years and what happened today shouldn't have happened to one of the best players in recent years for England.

Frank Lampard is an attacking midfielder with Chelsea in England. He's one of their best players and has been with them since 2001. He blossomed fairly "late" at the age of 26 when Chelsea started to dominate the English game in 2004.

Around that time, he became an England regular, replacing Paul Scholes. Since then, he's been a part of a stable England midfield triumvirate of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Frank Lampard.

Under manager Jose Mourinho, Lampard evolved into one of the best midfielders in the world game. He became a consistent 20 goal a season scorer and that's a very high rate of return for a central midfielder. In footballing terms - Lampard is a gem of a midfielder because such players are so rare.

This past season, he was a vital part of Chelsea doing the domestic League and Cup double and was poised for a great tournament in South Africa with Chelsea teammates John Terry, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole.

Until today, when the referee failed to spot Lampard's searing shot that cannoned off the crossbar and landed a clean foot inside the goal line.

It was so clean and clear that most people in the stadium saw it and celebrated the goal. Unfortunately, the referee and linesmen missed it.

One of the debates in the next few weeks will be the use of video technology in action-replay; the way it's done in the NFL. It's diabolical that FIFA would refuse to consider it. They are stuck in the 1920s.

I'm shattered for Lampard because he's 32-years-old and will be too old for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. And with that I don't mean that he won't be 36 in 2014.

I mean it would be miraculous if he was still playing at the same high level then, to merit inclusion in the World Cup squad.

Frank's pain is one based on fine margins. What if he had struck that shot slightly differently so that the ball would have bounced down and stayed inside the net instead of out into Manuel Neuer's grateful arms?

Nine out of ten crossbar shots bounce down and stay in.

There's a real empty, numbing feeling right now.

A feeling that beer cannot help take away.

I don't know of any antidepressants that are specifically indicated for World Cup elimination-induced depression.

Magnify that pain a million times and that'll be what Frank Lampard is feeling as he's lying in his bed at the England camp tonight. For him, he can't make it better. The crossbar shot was his final World Cup memory.

In 2014, he'll be watching England on TV like me.