THE view from here is festooned with flags. Well three to be precise, but by the time most of you read this they might have been folded sadly away. Either that or they will be fluttering even more proudly in anticipation of winning the World Cup.

A glance at the rest of the last eight in this remarkable event shows that England v Brazil should have been the final, yet we have to endure the prospect of Germany getting there yet again.

It doesn't seem long since Gary Lineker observed, after England thrashed them 5-1, that there are no easy games at international level, unless you're playing Germany.

They could, of course, lose this lunchtime to the USA, who might just have the best goalkeeper in the tournament in Brad Friedel.

But it would be almost as intolerable for the Yanks to get to the final in a sport they barely even countenance. Far better for the joyful South Koreans to make it, and who would bet against them after beating Portugal and Italy?

I was tempted to have a wager on Portugal after seeing them beat Poland 4-0, and after their surprising exit I was coming round to the view that the beautiful game has had its day.

Tactics and teamwork, rather than spontaneity and individual brilliance, are what wins World Cups, although it was gratifying to see the shirt-pulling, diving Italians fail in their cynical attempt to sit on a 1-0 lead against South Korea.

There again, a flash of Rivaldo magic can still win a game and if it has happened this morning we should accept it with good grace rather than allowing it to emphasise the fine line between mass hysteria and national deflation.

PERHAPS some of those flags are flying for the England cricket team, who did their utmost this week to make sure that the summer game isn't completely upstaged.

It would have been easy for heads to drop when Sri Lanka were holding out for what seemed a certain draw on another flat pitch.

But because England picked the right team, including Alex Tudor and Ashley Giles, instead of the lop-sided eleven they sent out in the first Test, they had enough armoury to keep plugging away.

It helps, of course, to have a good captain. Mike Brearley always said a captain should back his hunches, as Nasser Hussain does, although it helps if your hunches are sound, rather than the wild misjudgements with which Darren Lehmann has helped to plummet Yorkshire from champs to chumps.

They did better without him on Wednesday, although a 50-over total of 303 for three (if Becks were commentating it would have been free hundred and free for free) was chicken feed compared to the avalanche of runs at The Oval.

A total of 867 runs in 99.5 overs is astonishing, but while it shows what can be achieved on such a batsman-friendly pitch there is a danger that no-one will want to bowl any more. Cricket at its best offers a real contest between bat and ball, but in the battle to combat football's dominance the marketing men want runs by the barrowload.

THE radio men have been rolling out the cliches in appreciation of the old stagers this week. Nick Faldo "rolled back the years" with his third round 66 in the US Open and Martina Navratilova "turned back the clock" by winning a match at Eastbourne.

If only Faldo had shot another 66 instead of 73 in the final round he would have been right on Tiger's tail, and the pity of it is he's probably just about the only man left who could match Woods for mental strength if it came to a shoot-out.

Martina went out in the second round, despite being given centre court preference over the unimpressed No 1 seed Jelena Dokic.

Now with Wimbledon coming up we must brace ourselves for the annual bout of Henmania, which will partially fill the void if Becks' boys are on the way home.

Doubtless Tim would rather they were still going strong as it would deflect some of the expectation away from his slender shoulders. But with several big names missing he might never have a better chance to challenge Becks and Lennox Lewis for the Sportsman of the Year title

Published: 21/06/2002