After very nearly a month the 2010 FIFA World Cup is reaching it's climax. This evening's 3rd place play-off between Uruguay and Germany will have a sense of what might have been for the beaten semi-finalists. However both camps have been keen to stress that there is plenty left to play for, even if the match is usually seen as being of little overall importance.
First there was France and Italy and then less surprisingly England and Portugal, now Brazil and Argentina have also joined the slagheap for the 2010 World Cup. By the quarterfinal stage many pundits and 'experts' held the belief that the final would feature either Brazil or Argentina, possibly even both, in what would have been a World Cup first.
So much for predictions in the world of football. On Friday evening Dunga's Brazil had imploded in the second half of their quarter-final with the Netherlands, and it now looks like the manager will be leaving his post imminently. Meanwhile Maradona's quest to emulate Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer was shattered by the latter's country.
After the drama and excitement of yesterday's first two World Cup quarterfinals today sees the realisation of Germany versus Argentina for a place in the semi-final. This match has been talked up since the draw became clear following the second round matches last weekend. And rather like Gary Linekar said after England's elimination to Germany, it's probably best England didn't get through after all, because beating Argentina would have been far beyond them.
So England are out of the World Cup, this time a little earlier than usual and with more justification than in some past tournaments. The 4-1 second round defeat to Germany punctured a balloon of hope rather than of expectation, and most fans should have been forewarned by the far from convincing displays that had got them through group C. Still, one fairly decent performance against Slovenia in England's final group game had convinced the many perennial suckers for punishment amongst us that England would rise up and overcome the young German squad before them last Sunday.
After the calamity that was England's second World Cup match against Algeria, I thought it would be wise for me to fore go predicting an England win for Wednesday's crucial encounter with Slovenia. This illogical superstition was richly rewarded as England finally started living up to their somewhat bloated reputation.