When the second half came, it was the French who raised their game.  At times looking dangerous but never really threatening Buffon in the Italian goal.  It was a dragging final, not one for the fans to get roused by.  The game became cagey with both teams afraid to commit players to grab that elusive goal.  It was inevitable that the game would  into extra time.  Both keepers had very little to do and the game was winding down.

The game fell into a farse.  The red mist descended onto one of the greatest players, in his last ever game and he lost it.  It can happen to anyone, the anger cannot be controlled and he lashed out.  This is by no means an excuse, it was a despicable action, that deserved the punishment, however the referee became aware of the incident.  It was the only real defining moment in the game and was the only thing that got the crowd going, which sums up the game by no mans a classic. 

Even the penalty shootout had little flair.  Bang, bang, bang only the bar could defeat the French.  To be fair to the Italians everyone of their penalties was calm and collected but there was no hit, miss or maybe of penalty shootouts past.

The Italians, embroiled in corruption scandals, win the World Cup.  It is a shocker, a team of not so great players, but great defenders.  Zidane has been given the Golden Ball but Canavaro was by far the best player of the tournament, not a flair player, a solid, well marshaled centre back who a long with his fellow defenders won the World Cup for Italy. There will be fallout, and I guess if things go as they are heading in Italy, most of the squad will be out on their ear and most likely end up in the Premiership as bargain purchases made by thrifty chairmen on the back of winnig the world cup. 

Overall, I was disappointed with the latter stages of the World Cup.  It lost it's spectacle.  I stand by the fact that the better nations need to start playing to their potential so as to maintain the level of support seen in this World Cup.

It annoys me that, people say France should win because it is a fitting end to Zidane's career.  Yes it would be a fitting end to the career of a graceful and world class player but he has to deserve it.  The French rely on him to do something special to win the game, even the players admit that.  At times he is a footballing diva, arrogant and demanding.  Given the state of the French side, to beat the French: stifle Zidane's play making, frustrate him and don't be scared to put a challenge in.  The play goes through him, and they are an ordinary side.  The Italians are not really much better. I expect a dour final with very much stand offish play, no one will to risk a mistake.  It will be cagey and not the exciting final that the World Cup deserves.

But does this world cup deserve an exciting final?  Watching the majority of the games, I have been disappointed.  The knockout phase has been dull, the quality of the football poor. There has been bad performances, and from the point of view of a neutral wanting a spectacle, the Wong teams have gone through.  Cagey, defensive football has beaten the better teams in the world.  This World Cup needs an exciting final, to avoid being looked back on as a bad tournament.  

Fifa have failed to stamp out the cheating or simulation as they call it.  Why call it that anyway – lets say it is cheating and stamp it out.  And worst of all players asking the referee to produce a card have not been punished.  Is it time for a change at Fifa, time for Blatter (all puff and no action) to move on and be replaced by someone with the convictions to stamp this out? I think it is.

I didn't  see the game, as I was in the airport waiting on m  flight back home so I cannot say whether they deserved to win or not.  By all accounts (having spoken to a few people back home) they didn't really deserve to lose the game they didn't deserve to lose at least.  But time and time again England's undoubtedly world class players could not stand up and be counted in a penalty shoot out.  To be fair they are probably the most pressured players in the world, the expectations are so high, which does not help but they should be strong enough to get through that.  

You can dissect the managerial decisions, the squad, the performances or the conditions but the fact is they are coming home and no amount of dissecting will change that.  However is it all bleak for England? With Sven departing and David Beckham's announcement today that he is resigning the England captaincy is it the start of a new era?  Many of the players from this World Cup will be around in at least two years time if not in 4 years time and with a new invigoration and stronger determination to succeed, that this disappointment will lead to.  I will say that England's chances in two years time will be great.  I hope so anyway.  A new crop of young English players will be available and there may just be  turn in the fortunes – if we can avoid the penalty shootout.

The huge negative is the injury to Micheal Owen.  A big game player, who will be sorely missed.  It looked awful, and the television pictures clearly show that something popped his knee out of the joint.  If it is serious that leaves a lot of question over how England will shape up for the rest of the World Cup.  Ferdinand, leaving the park also didn't help the England game, but hopefully he has only a tightness in the muscle and will be available for the next game. With Michael Owen out the question is how will England play.  It is set up for a 4-1-4-1 formation but who do you play up front? Is Rooney capable of being the sole outlet?  He plays excelently as the link between midfiled but I think he needs the extra striker to link to.  

The best solution would obviously be to drop Beckham. but that is never going to happen this World Cup or under Micheal Owen.  I just cannot see it! Which is a shame as it may cost England the chance of winning the World Cup.   

There is still work to be done.

I must admit I am really disappointed by the ITV coverage.  The only good thing about it was the  three, honest, straight talking, experienced managers as pundits.  But the rest of the "production" was a joke.  While the cameras and pictures are the responsibility of the Germans, they were awful.  Please show the game.  That is no excuse for the awful, cliched commentary coming from Clive Tilsley.  I found myself shouting at the TV telling him to shut up,because very rarely did he commentate on the game, he was in his own little world trying to come up with his negative opinions.  Please bring back the BBC.

More surely to come on the ongoing England saga. 

We are 10 days into Germany 2006 and half way through the second round of group matches. England sit on top of Group 2 ahead of Sweded, Trinidad & Tobago and Paraguay and have already qualified for the group stages by winning their opening two games.

On the whole this has been one of the better tournaments for football fans. The quality of the games has been high for the most part. However it seems as if some of the big teams are yet to fire on all cylinders, the French being a prime example of this. The biggest exception to this being Argentina, who are looking so good at the minute I would consider a little flutter on them if the odds hadn't been slashed.

Having watched both England games in the midst of Scottish supporters* it would be safe to say that while the results went our way, they were not ideal games and I was getting plenty of stick. England were not at their best by a long way. However, there are some people including myself, who say that the result must come first. All that will be recorded for prosperity is the result, it doesn't matter how well you play, it is the result that counts. You only have to look to the Rugby Union World Cup in 2003, England didn't play pretty or quality rugby, they ground out the results and that is what counts. In 2006, we have all forgotten this and recognise that England won the WOrld Cup, all be it with a last minute drop goal. I admit that we have to improve our game if we are going to have any chance of winning the World Cup otherwise we will fall down when we come up against the better teams. But for now, we have to sit back and say after two games it is job done. We have qualified for the knockout stages and that is what matters.

I can't count the number of times I have been told in the last few days "England were lucky!". I find this amusing. Yes we didn't walk over these teams [no team in the world cup should be considered a walk over] but for the most part the England team did a professional job. Against Paraguay, we dominiated the first half and defended well in the second without really being troubled. Against Trinidad & Tobago we controlled the game from start to finish. Much is being made of how many of T&T's players play for lower league sides and how they stifled Englands top stars. Hold on lets just look at the F.A. Cup for the last few years. It is exactly the same. It was their chance to raise their game and try and beat one of the favourites at the start of the tournament. They had their chances to score a goal, notably John Terry's goal saving clearence just before half time but England were the ones in control of the game. We created chance after chance and should have scored several times before and after each game. I was pretty annoyed with Peter Crouch. While he has improved this season and probably deserves his chance, at times I felt he wasn't playing for the team. He should have bagged a hat-trick against T&T, but I felt he went for the glory amd played for the cameras. His miss just before half time is one example and another was in the second half where he got the ball in the box with his back to goal and instead of playing it simple and laying off a pass, he tried to flick it up and score with an overhead kick. Great if it comes off, but not when we are struggling to find the back of the net. It was the finishing that let us down against T&T nothing else.

Looking forward to the Sweden game, I think we cannot worry about who we will meet in the next round and try to avoid the Germans, the Ecaudorians would be as much of a challenge. We should go out there to win. There is talk of resting the players that have been booked or at least one of them. That is a good plan, but we must win the game. To win all three group games would be a massive lift. I would play Rooney and Owen to give them ninety minutes and would probably play Carrick to give Gerrard a rest. Perhaps even give Lennon a run out on the right but we must ensure that we win the game. I also think Paul Robinson needs a good game. He has been a supporter for much of the two games and has lost his concentration on occasion which has led to some mistakes. A big game against Sweden will give him the confidence going into the knockout stages. Defensively England have been strong. We haven't conceded a goal and you cannot get any stronger than that. A good midfield means the weakest area of the England team has been in the last 3rd of the pitch: getting quality ball to the strikers and scoring goals.

* For those of you who are not aware of this, the term "Scottish Supporter" is defined as: "someone who supports Scotland and whichever team is playing the Auld Enemy"