SPORT is the ultimate soap opera - but unlike EastEnders or Coronation Street it is real and unscripted. Captivating human dramas could be found this weekend in London where Tim Henman succumbed once more or at Old Trafford where Alec Stewart dragged his ageing body into cricketing history.

But the big dramas were in Japan and Korea. England's win on Saturday was, quite literally, fantastic. It is the stuff of fantasies to see an England team three goals ahead by half-time and cruising.

No script-writer would dare suggest such a storyline. England's footballers habitually torture their followers by awkwardly straddling the fine line between success and failure.

But on Saturday, you could leave the room to make a cup of tea and return safe in the knowledge that your dreams would not have been dashed in your absence.

The 50,000 people who regularly go to see Sunderland play will tell you that Thomas Sorenson is one of the best goalkeepers in the country. But playing for Denmark on Saturday, he had a nightmare, throwing England's first goal into his own net and allowing the third to squirm under his body.

When most of us make mistakes, it is either in private or before a handful of friends and colleagues, and we can quietly overcome them. Sorenson's mistakes were a very public humiliation, in front of billions of watchers around the world.

Next season, back in Sunderland's colours, he will receive continual reminders from opposing fans of the mistakes he wants to forget. How he overcomes them will be the ultimate test of his character.

The World Cup has been full of such captivating human dramas. Plucky Ireland, packed with North-East stars including the true local hero Niall Quinn, ran their hearts out and saw their hopes destroyed yesterday in the most cruel manner. But tiny Senegal - a country which can never have registered on most of our consciences - reached the quarter-finals having humbled the over-mighty world champions, France.

And for England, the dream is still alive. Indeed, it is all the more sweeter because while at this moment we can say "bring on Brazil" without any fear, we know that in four years' time the wheel will have turned full circle and England will look more likely to shoot themselves in the foot rather than shoot themselves to glory. That, though, is life.