I've got another World Cup in me

Despite the professional low of not playing, I enjoyed the tournament.

It was a totally different experience to the previous competitions I have been to - the Japanese people saw to that, and I am still pleased that I was a part of it.

Many people will look at the tournament and the age of our team and suggest that to go out to Brazil in the quarter-final is no disgrace.

This is probably true, but as a squad we honestly had a belief that we could go on to win the World Cup. A lot of this was down to lots of the favourites going out so early, a look at the semi- finalists highlights the golden opportunity that we have missed.

I have heard a lot of comments as to how this team will improve over the next two or four years, suggesting that we will have a better chance then to win something.

I don't completely subscribe to this view.

Every other team will also develop over that period, some will improve beyond belief - look at South Korea and Turkey at this tournament.

It will be no easier for us to win in the future. The teams that have had poor tournaments this time around will undertake major changes and the likes of France, Italy and Portugal will be all the more determined.

Our match with Brazil highlighted once again the importance of keeping possession at this level.

I have probably harped on about this in my previous columns, but it is the area of our play that needs the greatest improvement.

In every game we had to soak up pressure because we didn't retain the ball - ultimately Brazil were the team that punished us for it.

The feeling in the dressing room after the game was that we really hadn't done enough to beat Brazil, and certainly nobody was pointing any fingers at David Seaman.

He was brilliant for us throughout the tournament and I was delighted that he got a great reception when we arrived back in England. It was actually Brazil's first goal that totally altered the game.

If we had gone in 1-0 ahead who knows what might have happened?

I felt the timing of that goal knocked the stuffing out of us, and we didn't seem to have the belief from then on that we could win the game.

Most of us now want the Brazilians to go on and win the tournament. They may not be as good as some of their previous teams, but they still have some great international players.

I have also enjoyed watching South Korea play.

I said after our friendly with them that their supporters would play a big part in this event and they truly have. Their team have played with incredible energy and I think it is totally disrespectful that there is talk of a fix going on. Okay, they have benefited from a couple of refereeing mistakes, but so have lots of teams.

Korea have brought freshness to the competition and I am delighted for them.

It is also significant that Guus Hiddink has been able to work with that team uninterrupted since February. It shows the benefit of being able to work together as a team.

Of course, that period of time together would be impossible for England, but if we really want the team to be successful the manager needs to be given more time with the squad and that means more support from our clubs.

That is very unlikely to happen given the pressure on every club to produce results, on and off the field. Unfortunately, it will continue to handicap our national team.

Sayonara Japan, and thank you for making us so welcome.