There were, perhaps, just three top matches. Costa Rica v Brazil was an absurdly entertaining display of beach football, disguised as a World Cup group game. South Korea v Italy was wildly dramatic. And then, of course, there was England v Argentina: in truth, the only decent 90 minutes we played in the whole World Cup.
But what of the other 60-odd matches? With the possible exception of Brazil, none of the top-ranking teams played as well as they were capable.
The French were too arrogant and inflexible. The Argentinians simply could not convert their patent skill into effective play. The Italians were too negative - although, to be fair, no team could survive being denied five perfectly good goals by atrocious decisions. The Portuguese never recovered from their opening loss to the US. The Spanish were just getting going when they ran into the Korea Effect.
The biggest reason for both the giantkillings and the under-performances was fatigue. The top European-based players were at best exhausted and at worst injured. It's no coincidence that Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham were all way below par. The result was a show that did not have any stars. And it's also a show without a final act. Germany, South Korea, Brazil and Turkey: what kind of a last four is that?
If the best teams had come to the World Cup with their best stars fully fit, we would today be watching Italy v Spain, followed by Brazil v Argentina.
We could look forward to seeing Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Vincenzo Montella, Raul, Fernando Morientes, Hernan Crespo, Gabriel Batistuta and, of course, the Three Rs do their stuff.
As it is, we've got a final World Cup week that's like Hamlet without the Prince. Even the Brazilians are down to two Rs, thanks to Ronaldinho's suspension.
After months of anticipation and three weeks of thrill, the whole thing's gone a bit flat. And being a good, loyal Englishman, naturally I blame the Germans.
