Okay, so it turned out to be a lot less than the full throttle British game of football that nearly everyone expected. Indeed I heard one comment on television that England v Wales was more like a continental game of football, and not a particularly good one at that.
But I would like to raise a couple of points from the game which, apart from the result and yet another fine Wayne Rooney performance, had little else to commend it.
I have to admit to no small amount of satisfaction at the fact that Sven-Goran Eriksson chose to ignore the media clamour for omitting Michael Owen and the Swede must be applauded for his brave decision to try three forwards.
It wasn't his fault that it didn't really work to its potential maximum - but work is exactly what Michael Owen did, all afternoon, despite the fact that that he never scored. I don't really want to get into the debate over who should rightly claim England's first goal, as my observations are more about the way Michael played.
It was noticeable, to me anyway, that Owen, so short of match play thanks to team selection by Madrid, started the game against Wales looking like a player short of match sharpness. It was also noticeable, again, to me anyway, that as the game progressed Michael was getting sharper and sharper with each minute that elapsed.
He was getting his eye in, he was improving the timing of his runs and, should the game have gone into 'extra time' I would have no doubt that he would have scored, a proper goal.
Michael's performance, that of a man who has yet to play a full club game this season, was meritorious from the perspective that despite his lack of football this season and despite not scoring with his attempts at Old Trafford, and despite not getting the ball when better placed than teammates, he kept going.
Not for Michael Owen, under pressure from the media for the first time in five years as an England international, a dropping of the head, no he plugged away when a far less resilient footballer might have been forgiven for fading away.
The other high spot for me was David Beckham's goal. Don't worry I am not going to get carried away with the superlatives that came gushing out of televisions, radios and the Sunday papers. No, I want to pay tribute to the way the England skipper struck the ball.
Few players in the history of football have had the ability and talent to caress a football in the way, for example, a darts player skilfully twists the arrow to swerve it around one already embedded in the board and blocking off a winning mark. Jimmy Case, ex-Liverpool, was one such notable exponent of making the ball do exactly what he wanted. Glenn Hoddle was another.
We all know, thanks to Motty Motson's stats that before Saturday only three of David Beckham's England goals had come from open play, the rest being penalties or free kicks. Well, thanks to one of the most exquisite England goals of recent years, Beckham's clincher at Old Trafford makes it four and, to my mind, his best for his country.
Look at the body shape as Beckham made contact with the ball. Star players, whatever the ball game, talk about the 'sweet spot'. That point on the ball where laser-like accuracy in hitting it can send the ball anywhere the striker wants - whether a Flintoff cover drive at Lords or a punt upfield by Jonny Wilkinson.
David Beckham hit the 'sweet spot' so perfectly that, and I am sure if there is a photographer capable of capturing that sublime moment it would be obvious, he was able to wrap his foot around the ball and spin it outside the target and back in to dip so close to the angle of post and bar it would have had paint on it. Years of practice and dedication and one of the best moments from an important win.
