Last 16: England 1-4 Germany

Ugh. All the talk before was what would happen if this went to penalties. How to take the perfect penalty. How the England players would have the weight of history on their shoulders when they stepped up to take their spot kicks.

This didn't get anywhere near penalties, and England got nowhere near winning the World Cup. Before the game, player for player you'd probably say Lahm and Schweinsteiger would get in a combined XI of the best players from the two teams. After the game, that XI would be totally German.

Not one English player performed to their potential. The defending was embarrassing to say the least. Ball watching. Ball chasing. All left me ball scratching on my sofa at home. Yes, the goal that was disallowed should have stood, another example of luck going against England in a major tournament. But even if we'd had gone in 2-2 and rallied in the second half to pull out a win against the odds, the Argies would have put us to the sword in the quarters.

And no one would say this was the best German team to play a World Cup finals. Shorn of their captain Ballack in the run-up, they looked a bunch of unknown youngsters on paper. On grass they were well drilled. But to pull a quote from one of the rags, it looked like soldiers against pop stars. And there was no doubt who thought they were the pop stars.