TODAY is the first day without any World Cup action since the tournament started almost three weeks ago.

I hate these rest days, it reminds you of the void that will appear in your life when the competition concludes in 11 days time.

Hopefully that will be on the back of a joyous England victory, and we will all be allowed a national holiday after stuffing the Germans in Yokohama.

They were celebrating in Dublin last night as Sky News covered the return of the Ireland team to their capital. It was jubilation, the players all said a few words from a balcony to the screaming masses.

Then it went a bit too far, and even the anonymous sponge and bucket man held the mic. I presume that many of the revellers went home at this point, I picked up the remote and changed channels.

They certainly won't be celebrating when the Italian squad arrives home, after their disastrous defeat against South Korea.

When North Korea knocked the Azzurri out of the 1966 World Cup the team were pelted with rotten fruit and veg on their return.

Although armed with nothing more dangerous than a few Shakespeare quotes and a handful of melodrama, commentator Barry Davies was scathing of the Italians. On Ahn Jung-hwan's dramatic Golden Goal, Davies took a moral stance against Giovanni Trappatoni's side, that had sat back on their 1-0 lead.

"And they just will not learn," he roared.

The camera focussed on a tearful Paulo Maldini, presumably unaware of the wrath of the BBC man in the press box, but rather contemplating the putrid tomatoes on his nice blue shirt at Rome International.

SAM

WANTS

DREAM

DOUBLE