Scolari's wand shoves Erikssons out Germany

It was a day the English would hate to remember. Kitted and girded to the hilt, they had filed out without an iota of loosing out of the Mundial... if that would be, not to the Portuguese. But at the end of regulation time, there was need for both sides to continue for an extra time of 30 minutes...and that was when it looked a bit doutful that, this may not be another "God save our Gracious ... time for the English boys.

With Rooney out, and faced with a penalty shoot-out in a quarter-final encounter in a World Cup, the hitherto clear view of a final ticket became a mirage to Beckham and the rest of his boy - and fifaworldcup.com would report:

"Owen Hargreaves popped up all over the pitch to help 10-man England in both attack and defence, leading a valiant fight that ended tragically for his team in cruel penalties after they had held Portugal 0-0 for 120 minutes.

"Playing deep behind England’s four attack-minded midfield stars – Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, and David Beckham – Hargreaves was always on hand to impede the Portuguese front-men, who showed impressive flair at times but were prevented from creating many clear chances.

"The Bayern Munich man stepped up his efforts even more after Wayne Rooney was sent off in the 62nd minute. His aggression may have earned him unwanted attention from the referee – he was penalised for five fouls and booked in extra time – but he was England’s anchor in their time of need. And when they needed cool heads during the penalty shoot-out, Hargreaves was the sole England player to put his spot-kick in the net.

“Hargreaves served the team superbly throughout, with great positioning and covering tackles,” said FIFA Technical Study Group member Gyorgy Mezey. "Many times he also threatened the opponent's goal breaking from midfield. His play was at a constant high level.”