Patrick_Taylor - 10:13 am on Jun 26, 2006 (gmt 0)

Watching England play international football is invariably boring, and has been for decades. It's true... there's no passion. I love watching the World Cup, and it really doesn't feel as if it matters too much if England is there or not (and I'm English).

The night before last, Mexico put on a thrilling display of football passion against Argentina. Wonderful to watch. And hopefully today, Monday, we'll see some passion from Australia versus Italy - and a win.

As far as last night's game between Holland and Portugal is concerned (and apparently the Portugese coach, a Brazilian, tells his team to die for their country) I think the ref's intention was correct, even if he seemed to lose control of the game at times. Fouling and diving are ruining football. It's almost guaranteed that when an attacking player breaks loose out in front, the defence will try to bring him down. I think players should be sent off and banned for three matches after 2 dives or fouls - and the occasional mistake is a price worth paying to clean up the game.

The foul against Portugal's Ronaldo, possibly removing him from the next game, was little short of criminal assault (not to mention the later head butt). This sort of thing should be eradicated permanently... but of course it won't be, as the BBC commentary ridiculing the ref demonstrates.