From the sublime to the ridiculous. Have you ever known such a brainless reaction to a football match?

It's in the nature of England fans, of course, to lurch from the delirious to the depressed with no middle ground.

But why, less than a week after there were calls for "Sir Sven", is the England coach suddenly expected to don sackcloth and ashes?

All right, so England weren't very good. Even a couple of early-morning pints couldn't hide the fact that they were a pale shadow of the side that defied Argentina last Friday.

But they got through. They needed a draw; they got a draw. Job done. Now on to the next round.

To qualify from the Group of Death, however it was achieved, is worthy of nothing more than unconditional praise.

England's performances were a footballing version of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Argentina was scintillating, Sweden was dire and Nigeria was, well, not a pretty sight.

But no-one wins the World Cup in the first fortnight. Teams can lose it over two weeks, however.

The purpose of the group stage is to sort the wheat from the chaff - for those countries who have no chance of winning the tournament to enjoy their moment in the sun. Nations such as Saudi Arabia, China and, er, France and Argentina.

Believe me, they'd be dancing in the streets of Buenos Aires or Bordeaux had the two pre-tournament favourites emulated England.

Instead, they're raiding the local grocers for rotten tomatoes to "welcome" their players back from the Far East.

Italy will be another nervous nation this morning after they made their usual dog's dinner of qualifying for the second round.

Not England. As dawn broke here today, hopefully it signalled a change in people's moods.

The Nigeria game was just a reality check. If it reins in fans' expectations, so much the better.

Just as England can't play as well as they did against Argentina in every game, especially in a tournament which will see the finalists take part in seven matches in no more than 31 days, so they won't be as limp as they were in the goalless draw with Nigeria when they meet Denmark.

How France coach Roger Lemerre and Argentina's Marcelo Bielsa, both of whom will face the full wrath of fans and football associations alike as they conduct a World Cup inquest, would love to be in Eriksson's stack-heeled shoes right now.

Emile Heskey is still short of his best; so, too, is Michael Owen, who seemed to have left his shooting boots at Anfield.

David Beckham has been on the periphery for long parts of the three group matches, while Trevor Sinclair has some way to go to prove he's the answer to the left-sided conundrum.

But Rio Ferdinand has been the best defender in the finals thus far, Danny Mills and Ashley Cole are playing better than their multitude of critics feared, and David Seaman appears impregnable.

Yet on radio phone-ins, and in shops and offices across the country, yesterday there was unmitigated pessimism.

"We've only scored two goals - one a penalty and one from a corner," the doom-mongers screeched.

Yes, but England have also kept two clean sheets.

On such strong foundations, trophy-winning teams are constructed.

A Denmark midfield that contains Thomas Gravesen and Stig Tofting should play into the hands of Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes in Niigata.

And Denmark centre-backs Martin Laursen and Rene Henriksen will be waking up in a cold sweat at the thought of marking Owen - goal drought or no goal drought.

Only Brazil and Spain have swaggered through their group games. And who have they played? No one of the calibre of Argentina and Sweden, that's for sure.

Denmark took advantage of a bedraggled France to finish top of their group. They also needed a late goal to see off Uruguay, and no matter how well Senegal have played in these finals, they should be fodder for any side with genuine designs on lifting the World Cup.

So matter how worried you are about facing Denmark, be in no doubt that they're twice as scared of England.