Where did it all go wrong for England?

The competition has been variously described as “the greatest show on turf”, “the one we’ve all been waiting for” or “the one they’re all talking about” (the same tired cliches that were used to describe the 2010 competition in South Africa).

There is saturation coverage of 32 teams from around the globe as they do battle for the honour of being the best team in the world.

We were inundated with mass media hype in the build-up to the kick-off between Brazil and Croatia.

We are now subjected to endless coverage, with panels of three wise men at every televised game to tell us things we have already seen for ourselves.

And, after the final on July 13th, we will then have to put up with the post-tournament inquests as to where it all went wrong for England.

There will be the usual call for certain players to be dropped and never picked again, and there will be those deluded into believing England can compete at the highest level demanding the head of manager Roy Hodgson

As far as Mr Pendle is concerned, he will pick and choose his games very carefully.