HATS off to Clive Tyldesley last night for calling a World Cup semi-final on his lonesome, after Jim Beglin had called a sickie.

Normally, I wouldn’t be sad to see the back of the former Liverpool defender, whose analysis rarely stretches beyond the banal. But in a game of such magnitude, you’d expect a little more colour to the commentary.

Gone are the days when Kenneth Wolstenholme, Brian Moore or John Motson might have tackled something like this single-handed, and I think it’s rather embarrassing on ITV’s behalf that they didn’t have a back-up plan.

What exactly were Andy Townsend, Kevin Keegan or Gareth Southgate doing while the action was going on? Instead, Clive was left to argue with himself whether Wesley Sneijder’s goal was offside, or deciding exactly how to pronounce Martin Caceres’ name.

I was actually pleased for him when Arjan Robben headed in the third, because 30 more minutes of action would have meant digging out the anecdotes about ‘that night in Barcelona in 1999’.

And you could sense the nervousness in his voice when Uruguay pressed for an equaliser late on.

Credit to him, though.

I just shudder to think what would have happened if the roles had been reversed.

I’ve often been told I like the sound of my own voice but I speak from experience – a match spent on your Jack Jones in the commentary box can feel like a whole season, so I doff my cap to you, Clive.

In what has been a truly irregular tournament, I think it’s fitting that two countries that have never lifted the trophy should contest Sunday’s final – and that’s why I’m plumping for the Spanish tonight.

Like the Dutch, they have wandered through the rounds without really playing like true champions. Germany certainly have on occasion but surely they can’t pull another rabbit out of the hat like they did against Argentina, can they?