England 'til I die

For the past year I have been gripped by excitement for this year's tournament because I truly felt Fab Cap had put together a winning formula.

And so the groups were drawn in December and it looked like a straightforward route to the second round.

But what happens, England turn from world beaters to Conference relegation fodder and we scramble to second in the group behind the USA.

Bring on the Germans we said, and so they did.

I thought that after a poor start to the World Cup we would finally kick into gear and show the other 15 remaining teams what we were made of.

Instead we looked weak in defence, lacked a cutting edge and once again suffered 'an horrific exit' as predicted in an earlier blog.

At 2-0 down we looked awful and the panic buttons started to ring out in my head - this could be five or six.

Then came the 10 minutes of decent football played by England in the last four games.

2-0 became 2-1 and then Frank Lampard lobbed the ball home, only for the Germans to take ultimate revenge for the 1966 defeat when the Uruguayan linesman failed to see the ball land 18 inches into the net.

And what a turning point it proved to be.

With England on the front foot, 2-2 at half time could have inspired a World Cup performance to match any that had gone before.

Instead though, the five minutes of fight fell away before the hour mark and we collapsed to a humiliating 4-1 defeat.

But where did it go wrong? Was it the video technology row or was it the leadership of Fabio Capello?

Are the players overpaid and just lacking the passion to play to their best?

I think the wave of expectation on the nation was a factor in the collapse, but all the other countries have as much pressure from home.

Video technology must be introduced and must be introduced immediately.

If the world around Sepp Blatter can see it, can't there be a way to sort it out, with most of the FIFA governing body behind the plans.

We saw the replay within seconds and so did the whole stadium.

But the bigger question is the ensuing debacle in the second half.

A disappointing defensive display allowed a further two goals in and what does boss Capello do?

Well lets throw on Heskey, yes Heskey, with just a few minutes to go, and see if he can bag us the three goals to take the game into extra time.

And therein lies the problem. Capello has proven himself in domestic and continental football, but with this, his first major international tournament, he made the wrong choices.

I still think he is the man to lead England, but whether public pressure will allow it is another question.

The way he instilled confidence and a style of play not seen in England for some years in qualifying was amazing, but it fell to pieces when it came to the crunch.

Players who week in week out run past their German, French, Spanish and Brazilian opposition, crumbled on the biggest stage and failed to show up.

Not one of the players proved worthy of a mention for player of the tournament, so the next few months will be interesting.

But in just six weeks time these same players will return to Premier League action and start knocking the goals in.

Ultimately I am gutted for England, and even now as I sit down to watch Argentina v Mexico I feel sick and will probably shed a few tears tonight.

But come September I will be the first to run to the pub to throw my support behind the team for the start of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Being an England fan means 'years of hurt' and we have to battle through the trials and tribulations, but hopefully one day, before I cease to be, I will watch as England lift the trophy, and then, I will gladly go a happy man, a dream realised.

But until that day, I will follow the ups and downs and wear my shirt, hat, flag and red and white face paint with pride because I, as most of the nation's fans, am England 'til I die.