Watching games like yesterday's 0-0 draw from the substitutes' bench isn't much fun. I'm not referring to not being picked. That is always tough.
No, one of the hardest things is being continually updated with the score from the other match.
At one stage even a 1-0 defeat would have put us through because Sweden had taken the lead against Argentina. Cue great calmness even though Nigeria had caused us a few scares.
Then word filtered through that Argentina had equalised. Now a goal the wrong way in either game puts us out. Cue slight panic, since, from the side, you can have no influence on what is going on.
I guess it gives me an idea of what to expect if I decide to go into management. Ultimately, the most important goal was achieved. We qualified from a section that was termed the 'Group of Death' from the moment it was drawn.
I think we would all have settled for that after the 1-1 result against Sweden last week.
Indeed, I think Sweden's progress underlines what a tough game that was in Saitama. Again I wasn't surprised that Argentina weren't able to beat them.
So we now move on to the knockout stages of the tournament. Of course, we would like to have topped our group but there is no real reward for that
Who's to say whether Senegal or Denmark would be better opposition for us. Both have beaten France, the reigning champions, so that would suggest two difficult opponents.
If we were playing France, people would be building the game up as a very difficult task. I hope that now we are playing the team that topped France's group people will realise what a hard game we now face.
We certainly won't take the Danes for granted. Under Morten Olsen their former captain, Denmark were unbeaten in qualifying for the tournament and have remained so since arriving here. Their strength seems to be in their team ethic and I've been very impressed with their performances up to now.
Jon Dahl Tomasson, who had a tough time at Newcastle had a terrific season at Feyenoord, winning the UEFA Cup, and Chelsea fans will know what a dangerous player Jesper Gronkjaer can be.
We know we will have to pick our performance level up again, and that will be helped by kicking off in the cool of the evening in the north of Japan, rather than the stifling heat of the afternoon which we encountered yesterday.
A magnificent opportunity now lies in front of us. We are three matches away from the World Cup Final. No player could ask for any more motivation than that.
