Ordinary Gweilo

That’s what you call nerve-wracking, not to mention desparately disappointing.

It was an absorbing game. In the first half I thought England looked reasonably comfortable defending their slender lead, but as the game went on it looked increasingly likely that Portugal would score, and after they did I really doubted England’s ability to get back into the game. I said after the Croatia game that England would do well if the midfield carried on playing with the same level of determination, but sadly that wasn’t the case against Portugal. Beckham was poor again, and Scholes didn’t have a good game either. Pumping long balls up to Owen and Vassell was not a good strategy, though if Rooney had stayed on things might have been different.

And yet… After Portugal went ahead in extra-time England did come back into the game, and Lampard deserved his goal. Before that, England were unlucky to have Campbell’s goal at the end of normal time disallowed. Referees usually protect goalkeepers, so it wasn’t a big surprise, but it looked like another poor decision by Urs Meier, who didn’t have a good game at all.

The less said about the penalties the better.

However, although England can curse their bad luck in losing Rooney early on and having a goal disallowed, the truth is that if the midfield had done its part it wouldn’t have mattered. On balance, Portugal probably deserved the win.