World Cup...my verdict

Where to start? I'm still fuming from last night so this may not be the most impartial of views. But now England are out I'm going to give my verdict on the finals.

It's been talked about as one of the best tournaments ever. I have to disagree and say in my opinion it's been quite the opposite. There have been some amazing goals, but the large majority of these have been from long distance. And when you look at them as a percentage of long shot attempts it's no surprise a few have gone in the top corner.

The standard of football has been pretty poor. Not one team has stood out for more than one or two games at a time. Matches between two 'big' teams have typically been dull, defensive affairs with neither team wanting to push forward for fear of losing. Most teams play 4-5-1 and there is little wing play - the focus is on funnelling everything through the middle which would explain why players such as Ronaldinho have failed to make an impact.

Argentina were lauded after the group stages but in reality the game against Holland was a bad one, against Mexico they were the poorer team and against Germany they rarely threatened. Brazil have been poor too. They qualified at a stroll from a dreadful group and would have possibly gone out against Ghana had the Africans had a decent striker.

The only teams that have impressed me in any way at all have been Italy and Germany. Both have actually played some good attacking football which is surprising. But, Germany also had an easy group and 2nd round game (helped by the ref) and didn't create a great deal against Argentina.

The Italians did well to win their group, helped by the ref though, as was the case in the 2nd round.

Which brings me on to the refs. The standard in this tournament has been an absolute embarrassment. The question is, who's to blame? As per usual, FIFA and Blatter decide, in their infinite wisdom, to bring in a whole host of new 'directives' to improve things. This leads to confusion amongst the players and refs alike and we've seen some utterly bizarre decisions.

The new directives appear to be outlawing any form of contact and at the same time encouraging diving, time-wasting, bad sportmanship...in summary, cheating. Barely a game goes by without a screeching player hitting the ground clutching his knee/shin/ankle (whatever he grabs first) whilst his teammates surround the ref demanding a fellow professional have his World Cup ended by a sending off. All this despite the 'offending' players challenge being impeccibly timed and utterly fair.

The three most honest teams in the Cup (USA, Australia and England) can all point to shocking decisions which contributed to their downfall. Will they be rewarded for their honesty though? Unlikely. Will Michael Owen be congratulated for crawling off the pitch despite suffering a horrific knee injury just so play could go on? Unlikely. Will Figo be punished for headbutting an opponent, then later throwing himself to the floor to exaggerate contact and get someone sent off. Unlikely.

What can be done? Maybe have FIFA appointed independent physios to attend to stricken players on the pitch? They could then make a call on whether he is injured or not. Maybe an instant yellow for anyone who simiulates a waving yellow? Or a diving committee to review games and give post match red cards to anyone feigning injury or not punished for diving during a game?

Probably none of the above. But something needs to be done as this is destroying the game. It's no coincidence that the 3 biggest cheaters in the cup are in the last 4. How did France slip through the net? Despite not exactly being saints themselves, it was nice to see them beat Brazil. Although I daresay that ref has ruined his chances of being awarded the final by allowing the golden boys to get knocked out.

I'm sure FIFA are happy though - the hosts in the semis, no silly teams like Turkey making it through and those nasty English thugs have gone home. Ratings must be through the roof.

Finally, I missed this during the game but a quote from the beeb website is:

"Television pictures appeared to show Ronaldo winking towards the Portugal bench as Rooney made his way off."

Not sure how true this is but it wouldn't surprise me. Rooney is his club teammate for flips sake. Not sure how Ronaldo can show his face in Manchester after this. So wonderfully typical that he should score the winning penalty.

I'm glad I'm not in England as I can now go skiing and try and forget about it all. I presume the nation is in mourning, Rooney is being slagged off by the Daily Mail and the Sun is offering a free white van to the first person to bring them Ronaldo's gay head on a spike.