To suffer a defeat like that is nothing short of devastating.
Last Wednesday, my garden was transformed for the big night. We had the big screen set up, the flags flying high and the drinks in full flow.
We even had a giant cardboard cutout of Thomas Tuchel standing proudly on the lawn – a slight step up, or so we thought, from two years ago during the Euros, when Gareth Southgate was holding the fort in my front room!
With all the kids and family around, there must have been more than 20 of us packed into the garden, buzzing!
It’s a good job we had the photos taken with Thomas before the game because – after the final whistle – absolutely nobody wanted to stand next to him for a picture.
The frustration comes down to how the match played out. After going 1-0 up against Argentina, deciding to sit back and invite wave after wave of their attacks was incredibly hard to watch.
Like so many others, I felt we had a genuine chance of winning the World Cup this year. The atmosphere had been electric just days earlier for the quarter-final win over Norway where we had the exact same garden setup.
Then, in a flash, the dream was gone!
Normally, I’m incredibly superstitious and wear the exact same England shirt for every single match but, this year, I decided to wear a different one each game. Perhaps I need to take some of the blame!
We flew out to Bulgaria before the final and it would have been an amazing experience to be over there watching England take on Spain for the trophy.
Instead, it was just annoying having to sit through an Argentina v Spain final alongside all the other English families out there. Still, we did get to watch the third and fourth-place play-off on Saturday, didn’t we?!
Speaking of the Norway game last Saturday, I wanted to quickly revisit the Seaton Carew friendly against Hartlepool United earlier that day.
I won’t go overboard, as it featured heavily in my last column, but I have to say a massive “thank you” to Marty Hewitt and all the committee at Seaton.
They welcomed me and my plus-one – the legendary Bobby Payne – for some fantastic hospitality at Hornby Park. It was an extremely well-run, great occasion and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces turn out.
With more than 1,000 people in attendance, the atmosphere was brilliant. The food beforehand was top-notch, ex-Pools striker Kevin Dixon was among those speaking to the guests, and the whole event went like absolute clockwork.
As for Pools, they looked good that day. We will see how things develop going into the new season in a couple of weeks. A few new signings are still needed, but things are definitely looking up.
Just to sign off this week, I would like to wish the very best of luck to Trevor Carson.
The former Pools goalkeeper has just officially called time on his playing career. I worked with some unbelievable keepers at Pools and characters but Carson – a former Sunderland academy kid and Northern Ireland international – would be in my dream team! I’d also have had him in the trenches with me.
He went on to have a strong career up in Scotland, too. Enjoy your retirement, Trevor, and good luck with whatever comes next!
Author: Buster
Author of Life With Physiotherapist Buster, covering all things sports and health!