Disappointed England fans are taking time off from post-mortems and finger-pointing to salvage what's left of their dignity, and stop Christiano Ronaldo being named Best Young Player of the tournament.
Those who don't blame Wayne Rooney's petulance or Sven Goran Eriksson's tactics for the quarter final defeat are pointing the finger at the Portugal striker.
He badgered the referee after the stamping incident which saw Rooney sent off, and allegedly winked in satisfaction once the card had been shown.
Ronaldo is currently the front-runner in Fifa's young player of the tournament poll, with 27 per cent of votes cast. You can vote here.
An email campaign is currently urging England fans to stop Ronaldo by voting for Ecuador's Luis Valencia, currently second in the poll with 25 per cent.
"It doesn't matter who you support or if you haven't seen them play, just stop Ronaldo," the email reads.
Despite the red card, Rooney himself is currently fifth in the poll, with three per cent. England's substitute striker Theo Walcott has received nearly 3000 votes, despite not spending a single minute on the pitch - perhaps a tribute to his enormously promising warm-ups on the touchline.
Poll results are here.
2006: 'If only Ronaldo hadnt cheated we would have won the World Cup'
2004: 'If only rooney had stayed on we would have been Euro champions'
2002: 'If only it hadnt been so hot in Shizuoka we would have won the World Cup'
2000: 'If only Phil Neville hadnt been a donkey we would have been Euro Champions'
1998: 'If only Beckham hadnt got sent off we would have won the World Cup'
1996: 'If only Moller hadnt have cheated we would have been euro champions'
1994: 'If only we had qualified we would have won the world Cup'
Do you detect a pattern?
Pathetic! Ridiculous! very small time. No other country whines and whinges like we do.
Posted by: izzy | Wednesday, 05 July 2006 at 05:12 PM