What a contrast with England. France disappointed in the group stage of this World Cup but have flourished in the knock-out games. They were inspired against Brazil, counfounding the critics again. The beautiful game has a French accent tonight.

France now meet Portugal in the semi-final.

The history books will show that Portugal knocked England out of Germany 2006. But the killer blow came not from the men in red but England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

It was Eriksson who took just four strikers to Germany – two injured, one novice. It was the manager who tried a different formation for each game.

Rooney played the fool, but he was set up to fail by Eriksson, the most highly paid manager in England’s history.

Forget any idea that Scholari is a genious: he didn’t need to be to outwit Sven.

Portugal were hugely unimpressive. They played for free kicks, and showed only occasional glimpses of magic. The two teams gave the impression of two bald men fighting for a comb.

England were the least impressive of all the quarter-finalists, which speaks volumes for their coach’s inability to make anything of the talent at his disposal. Their early exit is a relief: we’ll no longer have to put up with the glacial Sven, who has shown far more passion for bed-hopping and money-grabbing than for doing the job for which he has been so dramatically rewarded.

He’s an amazing talent. But Wayne Rooney could start a brawl in an empty bar.

His stupidity has just earned him a red card, placing England in serious trouble in the World Cup quarter final against Portugal.

Rooney can have no complaints. You can’t expect to stay on the field after booting an opponent in the groin and then pushing another player.

Amazingly, the incident has shocked England into life. But Mark Lawrenson says England will want to play for penalties. Is he mad? England have lost four out of four penalty shoot outs. Who’s to say 2006 will be any better?

A cricket legend will be running in to bowl on the great wicket in the sky tonight. Fred Trueman has died, aged 75. He was one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket.

Famously outspoken, Fred ruffled establishment feathers throughout his career. Small wonder he called his autobiography Ball of Fire. I acquired a copy soon after it was published in 1976. My sister ordered a copy, thinking it was an account of the mystery Siberia explosion of 1908, but passed it on to me in disappointment.

Fred’s book pulled few punches. He described how he slept in his car before big matches after the break up of his marriage. And he let rip at the cricketing authorities.

In retirement, Trueman became a pundit on BBC radio’s Test Match Special, complaining that everything had gone wrong since his day. I enjoyed listening to Fred on TMS in the 1970s, although I can’t blame the BBC for deciding in 1999 that 30 years of grumbling was enough. One Victor Meldrew was plenty for the Beeb!

Imagine Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal had been thrown out of the English Premiership before a ball had been kicked. That’s the equivalent of yesterday’s shock news that Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francesco Mancebo had been thrown out of the Tour de France.

The men are allegedly implicated in a Spanish doping inquiry.

The news was a bitter blow for the Tour de France. This year’s race, which begins this weekend, is the first without Lance Armstrong, who won the last seven editions. With Lance gone, everyone was awaiting a far more open race, with a new hero. Now all that anticipation has been swept away by yet another drugs scandal.

Drugs and cycling have been unholy bedfellows for decades. Britain’s Tom Simpson died in the 1967 Tour after taking amphetamines. Old riders asked how anyone could win a 3,000 mile cycle race without chemical assistance. But no sport can survive when the results are under suspicion.

It’s ironic that Lance’s seven wins were bracketed by scandal-dominated Tours. The 1998 Tour was decimated by the Festina affair, in which team after team was withdrawn because of doping allegations and riders were dragged off to the cells. Lance’s triumph the following year after recovering from cancer gave the sport a better role model. How sad that eight years on cycling is in the news again for all the wrong reasons.