Heartache for wives and fans

Their faces said it all. As the final whistle blew on another night of England despair, the tears began to flow. Down on the pitch David Beckham's face crumpled and up in the stands, his young son Romeo began to weep. He seemed to sum up the mood of a whole nation.

Disbelief, followed by an overwhelming feeling of disappointment. But we must be used to it by now because nobody does heartache quite like England's footballers. And all that was left was for England's 30,000 supporters in Portugal to drown their sorrows in the late-night bars of Lisbon.

Veterans of penalty shoot-out disappointments, England know all about big tournament anguish, and are experts in plucking last-minute defeat from the jaws of victory.

But this time was different. This time England came with real hope and expectation. After a day of glorious sunshine in England and Portugal, the nation came to a halt for the big game.

In Lisbon, the England fans arrived in high spirits, mingling happily with their French counterparts.

In the stadium the wives and girlfriends joined them in singing their hearts out for the lads.

Victoria Beckham was patriotic in an England tank-top. Wayne Rooney's girlfriend Colleen McLoughlin, 18, resplendent in pink, looked as if she had brought the biggest charm necklace of all time to bring him luck.

Alex Curran, 21, wore a tracksuit from Juicy Couture that could almost have been in the colours of the Brazilian team.

Of course, she might have forgotten which team her fiancé "teven Gerrard plays for - she admitted last week she did not know who England faced in their first match.

Scorer Frank Lampard's girlfriend Ellen Rives, sitting next to his father Frank senior, flicked her blonde hair. All, of course, were in designer sunglasses. Posh wore a pair that looked strikingly similar to the Police shades modelled by her husband.

The French wives were not at the stadium after coach Jacques Santini imposed a sex ban on his team. After the match, however, a few players, including Arsenal star Robert Pires, were allowed to briefly meet up with their partners at the team hotel.

The England wives might have been happy to miss the match if their men had more luck.

If only Beckham's penalty had gone in; if only Heskey hadn't given away that free kick; if only Gerrard had not given the ball to Thierry Henry right in front of David James's goal . . .

But for the wives and fans there is the consolation that England can still get to the final where revenge against the French remains a possibility.