IF, like me, you spent most of Sunday recovering from England’s draw against the US, then you’ll agree that the first two of yesterday’s games came like a manna from heaven.

If I have ever watched a more sterile 90 minutes of football than that served up by Algeria and Slovenia, I have obviously blocked it from my memory banks.

The lethargic fayre on the pitch provided the perfect opportunity to doze in and out of consciousness, which at my age is becoming a more regular feature.

Fabio Capello certainly won’t be losing much sleep about facing the other two teams in Group C, who seem to possess all the attacking intent of a three toed sloth.

Next up was Ghana against Serbia, two teams regarded as dark horses for the tournament.

It was still fairly turgid stuff and once again the old eyelids started to weigh heavy. In fact, I’m starting to wonder whether all these vuvuzelas are prompting some sort of Pavlovian response.

I was glad to see Ghana nick it in the end. It’s good for the tournament although what was Serbian substitute Kuzmanovic thinking when he spiked the ball away volleyball style to give away the penalty?

Thanks to my afternoon naps I was remarkably sprightly for Germany’s comprehensive victory over the Australians, which banished any thought in my mind that they won’t be a force in South Africa.

Unfortunately for England, they might well meet up with the old enemy in the second round if they don’t win their group, and that’s a real possibility now if they don’t smarten up their act.

You have to take your hat off to Germany, who have completely restructured their side in the last couple of years, yet retained that big-game mentality that always seems to serve them well on the grandest stage.

I’m especially impressed with Marty Feldman look-alike Mesut Ozil, who tore shreds off the Australians in Durban.

Oh for some similar invention in the England team at the moment.