I rewatched England’s heartbreaking World Cup 2006 clash with Portugal 20 years on and six things stood out

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World Cup 2006 was the end of the ‘Golden Generation’, a tag that now inspires anger and disappointment among England fans.

The tournament was a huge letdown for England, culminating with the quarter-final defeat to Portugal on penalties, a carbon-copy of the nation’s Euro 2004 exit.

I watched England’s defeat at the tournament in a packed pub with a day of optimism turning into a misery that I have never wanted to revisit.

Until now. 20 years on I decided to re-watch the entire game from opening kick-off to the decisive penalty shootout. Here is a look at the six things that stood out…

World Cup 2006 was incredible

We didn’t know how good we had it. The 2006 World Cup was effortlessly brilliant. Germany beat England in the bidding for the tournament, and you can’t deny the host nation did a great job.

The stadiums were packed, the pitches were flawless, and there were elite players representing their countries. From Kaka and Ronaldo with Brazil, Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry with France, and Alessandro del Piero and Francesco Totti for Italy.

In this match, there were top talents all over the pitch, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo on the wings for Portugal.

England had a five-man midfield of Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. It failed to gel – but the individual talent was enormous.

For me, 2006 was always the less favoured tournament compared to 2002, defined by the Brazilian brilliance and real England hope along the way. But when you compare this tournament in Germany to later editions in 2010 and 2014, we didn’t know how lucky we were.

England and Portugal deserve more credit

The match finished 0-0 after extra-time, before Portugal won the game on penalties. On one hand, it was a betrayal of the attacking talent on display for both teams that neither could conjure up a goal. Managers Luiz Scolari and Sven-Goran Eriksson should take more responsibility for that.

But that’s one way to look at it. The other side is to give credit to the outstanding defence from both teams.

England’s full-backs Ashley Cole and Gary Neville were the country’s undisputed best, and they completely shut down Figo and Ronaldo.

At the back Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were impenetrable. Even with 10 men, England barely gave up any real chances to Portugal. There was one bone-crunching block from Ferdinand that showed remarkable determination not to let anything past him.

You also have to give praise to Portugal too. Led by Ricardo Carvalho at the back, they were quick to shut down any England attack by crowding space and blocking shots. This was a game where defence was clearly superior to attack. It didn’t make for a great spectacle, but it was an art in it’s own right.

The end of David Beckham

This game ended up as David Beckham‘s final World Cup match and it was a sad way to bow out.

Beckham actually had England’s best chance of the game in the first half, when a free-kick was awarded.

It was in Beckham’s favourite spot, just outside the box to the left; the same position he scored in World Cup ’98 against Colombia, and that famous one against Greece in 2001.

This day, Beckham’s execution let him down, as the free-kick went straight into the wall.

Beckham was substituted on 50 minutes, with it clear by that point that he had been carrying an injury. He looked tearful on the sidelines as he realised the magnitude of his England career coming towards an abrupt end.

He was later diagnosed with a knee strain that kept him sidelined from any action until late August.

A fully fit David Beckham would have been a difference maker in this match. Sadly this wasn’t the case.

Ronaldo’s wink: A non-event

The Cristiano Ronaldo ‘wink’ was a load of nothing. A minor gesture that was overblown by the media searching for a villain.

After France ’98, David Beckham was vilified by the media for his flickout at Diego Simeone.

The press were more reluctant to go in on golden boy Rooney, despite his own misdemeanour being far more indefensible than Beckham’s.

Rooney clearly stamped on Ricardo Carvalho, and it looks worse and more painful with each replay.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the media villain for his reaction afterwards. But don’t get it twisted, Ronaldo did not get Rooney sent off. He managed that all by himself.

Was Ronaldo guilty of exaggerating when he was fouled at certain points in the game? Yes. Was Ronaldo guilty of being a little overconfident in his own ability in 2006? Yes.

Was he responsible for getting his Manchester United clubmate sent off? No.

Ronaldo’s wink was inconsequential to the sequence of events that played out that day, and didn’t warrant the attention given to it by the tabloid media.

England had no plan with Wayne Rooney, and even less without him

In the opening two minutes Wayne Rooney got loose and fired in a shot was well blocked by the Portugal defence. It showed an intent from England to be direct and take the game to Portugal.

Sadly this was as good as we got. Wayne Rooney was totally isolated in attack, always outnumbered by the Portugal defence with no time and space.

It probably wasn’t a surprise that his frustration got the better of him with a 61st minute stamp, leading to his red card.

What England really should have been angry about was the total lack of attacking options.

England’s answer to Wayne Rooney’s red card was to throw on Peter Crouch. Unsurprisingly, it was an emergency plan that did not produce a goal, or come close to one.

If Rooney didn’t stand a chance, then Crouch didn’t either. What if England had managed to get through?

We would have faced France in the semi-final and then Italy in the final with Crouch up front with Rooney suspended. I think the defeat here ended up sparing further inevitable heartbreak.

Penalty farce still angers me

Having managed to reach the shootout despite playing with 10 men since the 61st minute, this actually felt like our best shot of victory. England certainly didn’t look like scoring in normal time.

And while penalties have never been England’s strong point, this one was a complete farce.

At the time I blamed Jamie Carragher a lot. Carragher been brought of the bench in extra-time with the sole purpose of taking a penalty. He had one job, and he blew it.

He took his penalty before the referee blew the whistle, and was made to retake it. And missed. What an absolute farce.

But at the end of the day, Carragher was a defender who scored more own goals than goals. And he wasn’t the only one who missed.

Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have no excuse.

Both players missed penalties after contributing no attacking threat all game, and all tournament. Both under-performed. A real let down.