Gareth Southgate has done a wonderful job since taking over as England manager/coach - restoring pride in the England team and leading them to a World Cup semi-final followed by a Euro Final is more than a decent start with the next World Cup only just over a year away.
Italy were the stronger and better side overall. Southgate did make some obvious mistakes. Sakka came on as a substitute and was too lightweight and inexperienced and shouldn't have taken a penalty. Grealish came on too late to influence the game and should have taken a penalty. Foden should have been brought on in extra-time. To have a player with his quality sitting om the bench the entire match was a big mistake (unless he was injured of course).
But this is a very young England side which will only mature over the next few years. There will be other players pushing for places whilst the current squad continues to gain in experience. New players will need to be of a very high standard to break into the team and that can only improve us overall.
There really were so many positives from the defeat. We now know that England can compete on equal terms with the best in the world and that's not something we have been able to say for a long time.
They say you can always remember where you were at certain points of history but that's not always correct. I can't remember where I was when Kennedy was assassinated, nor when man landed on the moon but I do remember that on the day England won the World Cup I was round my friend Paul's in Recreation Road, Norwich.
Strangely I don't remember being hugely excited. I do remember going to the cinema a few weeks after to see a film of the tournament which was entitled "Goal". It was in colour. I think coverage of the final was in black and white although they did add colour later on through graphic fiddling or whatever the correct term is.
I looked Goal up on the Internet and you can buy it on Amazon. I seem to remember the director tried to be all arty farty and much of the action was based on shots of the players' legs.
Then I read a book about the tournament and can't remember what that is called although I do remember much of it was having a go at teams which continually kicked the ball into the air - airball.
I have watched the 1966 final a number of times and always enjoy the tension and sheer skill showed by both sides - England and West Germany.
Those were the days when Germany was split into two separate countries - East and West.
The match I do remember vividly was England's quarter-final 1-0 victory over Argentina. I remember it not for the football but for the evil play of the Argentinians who were quite rightly called animals. Their only aim was to kick chunks out of the English players.
Many years after the match they did an analysis which showed that England had 75% of the possession. Above all I remember the Argentinian captain Antonio Rattin. I remember this man (I won't call him a footballer) who was evil on a football pitch. Nobody was at all surprised when he was sent off. What I didn't realise until now is what he was sent off for and what he did next. So to quote Wikipedia:
"Rattín was sent off by the German referee Rudolf Kreitlein for "violence of the tongue", despite the referee speaking no Spanish. Rattín was so incensed with the decision, believing the referee to be biased in favour of England, that he initially refused to leave. As a way to show his disgust, he sat on the red carpet which was exclusively for the Queen to walk on. He eventually had to be escorted from the field by two policemen. This incident, and others surrounding the same game, saw the introduction of yellow and red cards into football.