World Cup Diary 2. Glory Days

The England expedition to Germany in 2006 sets off with a belief that the players representing the English game are amongst the best in the world and capable of competing at the very highest level.

It was not always so and after the last of the great team of 1966 was defeated by Germany in Mexico in 1970 the England team spiralled into oblivion - with non-qualification and poor tournament performances.

Things changed at Italia 90 when a young Geordie player forced his way into the national team and began to dominate games and began to dominate the tournament. Paul Gascoigne powered the England team with breathtaking skill and a staggering ability to infuse the team with self belief.

As he began to lay waste to the oppoisition, the players around him, and with him, began to see the strength of their game, and the England team and the entire country was aroused back into its footballing passion.

You can replay the tackle, for which Gascoigne was booked in the semi-final against Germany, at least a thousand times and never will you find any visible contact. The German cheated and the tie slipped away and we were out but with honour restored and cheering crowds met the players return.

The beautiful game was back with England and a young player with the confidence to believe we were good enough and to believe that he was good enough had walked us back into the heart of the World game, and as contenders.

The mental energy to dominate a game, to perform at the highest level repeatedly, to play with belief and confidence in front of millions, to live with the pressure of expectation and to deliver, to be the main man amongst more experienced peers, to call the shots when the pressure is explosive, to mock the opposition with a higher level of ability, to drag a national sport off its backside - one player did all that at the earliest stage of his career and gave us back our glory days and the promise of all the glory days to come.