SO, that was the World Cup eh?

What a massive disappointment.

Not just England's diabolical capitulation, but the tournament as a whole. It didn't really set the world alight did it?

Congratulations to South Africa, there is no doubt they did a fantastic job and silenced any doubters there might have been. Organisationally it was a rousing success.

On the pitch, it was anything but.

What happened?

We had the spectacle, we just weren't graced with the splendour.

Messi, Rooney, Ronaldo, Drogba, Kaka. All were supposed to set the tournament alight. None did.

The diminutive Spaniards Iniesta and Xavi did at least try to take on the baton, but even they did little to get us armchair fans too excited.

Has ever a team won the World Cup trophy scoring so few goals in the process? I highly doubt it.

It wasn't just the Spanish who struggled to put the ball in the onion bag, there were only 145 goals in the tournament as a whole, in 64 matches! That equates to less than 2.3 goals per game! Not good enough. Eventual winners Spain only managed to ripple the back of the net on eight occasions in their seven games to picking up the trophy. They won five games in a row (including the final) 1-0.

Everyone criticised the Dutch for their tactics in that match, but Spain, for all their free-flowing football, were difficult to watch at times as their moves broke down at the vital moments. At least the Dutch mustered two clear-cut opportunities.

Siphewe Tshabalala's rocket (I just wanted to use his name again) apart, which got everyone on their feet, the tournament opening was dour.

France and Uruguay bumbled to a 0-0 draw, England stumbled to a 1-1 draw with America, Italy were held by Paraguay, Brazil struggled to beat minnows South Korea and eventual champions Spain lost to Switzerland, while the big match of the first round ended 0-0, between Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Good times.

Only Germany and Holland of the big boys really showed their true worth in the early stages, and even the Dutch had sacrificed their Total Football in preference for a 'get the job done' attitude.

'It's all right,' I thought to myself, 'Everyone starts off cagey, by the second round of matches, teams will come out of their shells.'

I believed, I hoped, I expected.

What a let down.

England were diabolical in a 0-0 draw with Algeria, Italy drew with New Zealand, France were soundly beaten by Mexico, Germany lost to Serbia, Spain just about managed to score twice in a game, for the one and only time in the tournament.

It didn't get better and was destined never to.

Where was the glitz and the glamour? Where was the flair and the fire?

What happened to the beautiful game? For what I was seeing was nowhere near beautiful.

It's such a shame. You wait four years for the event to come around, and you're left wholly disappointed once it's gone, not because it was so amazing and you yearn for more, but because you waited so long, invested so much time, and for what?

No one went out there and played the expansive football that we all desired so much. And why not? Is it too much a case of not wanting to lose rather than wanting to win? Was there too much at stake?

South Africa 2010 compares, not in a good way, to USA 1994. No one thought they should host the tournament, no one expected them to carry it off, everyone was impressed by the organisation, but the football on display was somewhat lacking.

No one ever thought we would be treated to a World Cup final as awful as Italy versus Brazil. We were all proved wrong on Sunday.

Spain versus Holland summed up the tournament as a whole - very, very dull.