Now coaching in Japan, Ardiles also echoed the view that much will depend on how well England handle Ariel Ortega and Juan Veron. ``Ortega is a very difficult player to mark, and it's something Glenn will have to think about. Veron is the player that Daniel Passarella rates more than anyone else. If he plays Argentina play. If he doesn't, they don't.''

On the evidence of past England-Argentina clashes, the referee is going to be important, too. Fifa have handed the job to Denmark's Kim Nielsen.Another of the World Cup's golden oldies, Franz Beckenbauer, hit out at the standard of play in the group matches when he insisted that too many players had ``squarefeet''.

``Diego Maradona said to me that there are too many players here with square feet, and I have to agree,'' proclaimed Kaiser Franz in his German newspaper column.

``It was a nice idea to have a World Cup with 32 teams. But how could teams have been convincing when some of the small teams have just stayed back and not wanted to take the initiative?''

Half the nation watched England's win over Colombia, according to television audience research figures. The BBC's live screening of the match attracted 24.2 million viewers, the highest ever single channel audience for an England match and one that does not take into account the millions who saw the game in pubs and clubs.

One wonders how Glenn Hoddle and his players will feel when it all ends. The parting shot of Colombia's head coach, Hernan Dario Gomez, was: ``Now I'm tired and sad, even sick. Being in a World Cup is supposed to be a beautiful experience, but it was terribly hard because of all the tension and passion whirling around a nationalsquad.''