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England can't take final step
Maybe after actually winning a semi-final, it was probably too much to expect a defeat of Germany as well.
There will be no joyous homecoming for Stuart Pearce and his men, no trophy for Mark Noble to lift and emulate the most illustrious West Ham old boy, Bobby Moore. No end to 25 years of hurt.
Instead, memories of an impressive tournament that England were well capable of winning will be stained by a hammering right at the end, the Three Lions tamed by the dazzling skills of Mesut Ozil.
In truth, England's chances of emulating the side of Mark Hateley and Mel Sterland receded dramatically when Frazier Campbell, Joe Hart and Gabriel Agbonlahor suffered disciplinary woe during the semi-final that meant they would miss the decider.
The loss of the latter two in particular was a grievous blow given they represented half of the players available to Stuart Pearce who have appeared at senior level for England.
Another four have an outside chance of making the squad for South Africa next year, although one of them, Everton starlet Jack Rodwell, is so raw he was not trusted with a starting berth either.
With Theo Walcott driving through the middle, Pearce's hope was pace would prove to be Germany's undoing.
Yet the Germans proved more adept at stopping Walcott than Croatia were in that famous World Cup qualifier, the high point in what turned out to be an eventful season for the Arsenal man.
Having told Arsene Wenger in no uncertain manner that he intended fulfilling his commitments in Sweden, despite the Frenchman's obvious reservations, Walcott kept working.
The problem was England did not get near enough to him.
It was almost the old Steven Gerrard-Frank Lampard conundrum in reverse as Mark Noble, Fabrice Muamba and Lee Cattermole stuck resolutely to their holding roles without considering how England were going to score.
It is a measure of the class exuded by Ozil, a 20-year-old Werder Bremen youngster destined for very big things judging by his performances over the past fortnight, that despite the trio of extra England defenders, he still managed to find space.
The pass inside Martin Crainie for Gonzalo Castro's opener was sublime, a perfect ball played with a clear head, under intense pressure.
Exactly the type of thing Germany have been doing for years, further back indeed than 1980 when coach Horst Hrubesch was scoring twice in a European Championship final win over Belgium, one of many, many major triumphs down the years.
England of course, have one, which is why this tournament meant so much as momentum began to build.
They even won a semi-final via a penalty shootout, which shows how special it was. Unfortunately, Fabio Capello's connection did not quite work out, meaning the England coach had to watch on TV rather than in person after arriving back from assessing both potential opponents and training grounds at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
It meant the Italian missed England's disastrous start to the second period – Hart's replacement, Watford's Scott Loach, totally misread the flight of a long-range Ozil free-kick.
The mistake wrecked Pearce's game plan and rendered most of his interval words meaningless.
On Friday, hosts Sweden recovered from an even worse situation to force extra-time and nearly beat Pearce's side before missing out on spot kicks.
You never got the feeling Germany would buckle in the same manner.
Pearce will provide an extensive dossier, Franco Baldini will offer his own observations.
But most of the notes will not relate to South Africa 2010.
If you go through Capello's recent squads, there is a thread of consistency that does not suggest Rodwell or Kieran Gibbs will displace more established and experienced members of Capello's group.
Exactly the same kind of things were said about Walcott three years ago before Sven Goran Eriksson broke the habit of a lifetime, ditched his natural conservatism and then didn't use the new boy as England crashed out in the quarter-finals.
Former Leeds United midfielder James Milner is a more obvious 'surprise', Hart and Agbonlahor represent the most likely choices to make Capello's final 23.
The remainder will probably have to look to Euro 2012, by which time England would dearly love to win a penalty shootout and beat Germany in the same competition.
Ends
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
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