Thank Goodness England didn't qualify - all that would have done was prolong the agony.

I must confess I get a perverse pleasure from seeing the national side fall flat on its face. Since 1966 all they have served up is mediocrity, yet still football holds centre-stage in the media at the expense of the other sports where this country actually excels.

A case in point is the British track cycling team, which at present is the best in the world (and without the aid of performance enhancing drugs I might add). At this year's World Track Championships in Spain there were 15 World Titles up for grabs, and the British won 7 of them. That's a 47% success rate - plus the silver and bronze medals also won. Did you see the success trumpeted in the media? Of course you didn't. They were too busy with the important stuff like how many corners and offsides Man Utd had at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Ah well, rant over. Roll on next March, when the 2008 World Track Champs are held at Manchester Velodrome. Then we can see some real sport!