Oh well, so it wasn't to be.
One thing is certain.
British bookmakers have probably had the best day in their history.
Brazil and England were the by far heaviest backed teams in the tournament by UK punters.
I'd suggest you buy shares immediately in Betting Companies as they will have landed enormous profits from today's World Cup events.
I don't really relate to saddos who go out and buy Portugal shirts and go mental when England lose.
However, unless you're a partisan England fan, the overall impression is that England have brought nothing to this tournament in terms of quality football and entertainment. I'm not delirious to see them go out, but I'm certainly not sad either.
It's all been dreary and negative, mainly due to singularly unambitious tactics.
It's a crying shame, as they have got fantastic individual players who have been denied the platform to express themselves on the world stage.
The fact that the new manager has been appointed from within the present flawed management team doesn't bode well for the future.
If there was any natural justice, the World Cup should should have been presented to Zidane after his incredible performance last night against Brazil.
"There you go, son. Well done. We can all go home now."
He was conducting an irresistible symphony of Gallic flair...! (poetry an' everything in this Blog!)
Of course, it's almost inevitable that France won't win the Cup as they completely peaked last night. How can they top that performance?
They were taking the mickey out of Brazil. How many other teams would have the confidence to do that?
Brazil didn't deserve to go any further. They've been very disappointing.
I'm not generally one for conspiracy theories, but I'm at a loss to explain why Ronaldo has retained his place in the starting line-up.
Sponsor pressure? New goalscoring records to be set?
He was so slow, clearly overweight and contributed little.
There were several players on the Brazilian bench who would have posed a much greater threat to France.
At times it looked liked Brazil had agreed to play France in a testimonial match for Zidane.
Of course, if France meet Germany in the final, as I expect, he will be man-marked by a pacy defender and will be blocked out.
This is a pity for the neutral, but you can't blame the opposition for not wanting to be as generous as Brazil.
Brazil generally play better at World Cups when they are not the reigning champions.
They gave the impression this year that they just needed to turn up to win it.
Germany looks favourites now.
They must be almost inclined to play for penalty shoot-outs, such is their mastery of the art.
They look so confident when they stride up, and the execution is nerveless and clinical.
With Italy's shoot-out record, a Germany v Italy penalty drama would be comparable to a sumo match between the reigning world sumo champion and a "feeling a little poorly today" , Charles Hawtrey of "Carry On" film fame.
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