So Sunderland fans got their wish - Thomas Sorensen did have a stinker.

On Saturday, Northern Echo Sport wondered whether Mackems would put club loyalties to one side and want Sorensen to end up a loser against England.

And Martyn McFadden, editor of A Love Supreme, claimed he and his brothers-in-arms were desperate for the 'keeper to make a season's worth of mistakes in 90 minutes in Niigata.

In the end, Sorensen did just that. His attempt to collect David Beckham's corner was so misjudged that he didn't even get close enough to the ball to flap at it, never mind catch it.

Just when Rio Ferdinand thought he had missed an open goal, Sorensen fumbled it over his own line.

"And at a time when Denmark were looking to regroup at half-time and plan how to overturn a two-goal deficit, Sorensen dived over Emile Heskey's drive to rubber stamp England's progress to the last eight.

McFadden said: "Everyone will point the finger at Sorensen over the first goal but he would normally save the third one as well.

"I felt sorry for him, as I think most Sunderland fans did, but at the same time we were happy that England had scored.

"He was fantastic last season apart from a couple of mistakes early on. But the first goal on Saturday was a nightmare.

"How he played will work in Sunderland's favour in that it might put some people off buying him, and if he'd played well then more clubs would have been keen on him. But clubs still know he's a good keeper."

And while Sunderland fans were down, their Newcastle rivals were buoyant at Sorensen's show.

Michael Martin of True Faith fanzine said: "It is no surprise to see Sorensen in such fine fettle. That penalty save from Alan Shearer is ancient history.

"It was fantastic to see him chuck the ball into the net. It was, for us, a big cherry on a big cake.

"And it was a relief to see Jon Dahl Tomasson play like he did at St James'. As soon as two half-decent defenders got hold of him, he never got a sniff.''

* Denmark striker Ebbe Sand blamed defensive errors and his side's lack of cutting edge for their World Cup exit.

England's win was helped largely by some indifferent defending from Denmark, who were 2-0 down after 22 minutes and trailed by three at the break.

Sand said: ''Overall we were punished for our errors, because England weren't that good.

''I think 3-2 would have given a more fair picture of the game.

''We kept playing despite the game becoming very difficult.