Lets face it, since then we haven't had much to smile about. It's almost as if that penalty was the precursor to nothing but spot-kick misery ever since, but instead of mulling over our failures from twelve yards, lets celebrate the bulldog spirit that makes our football investment what it is, whether your team is England, Scotland, or Nicaragua.

A part of me is wondering where that bulldog spirit has gone? Over my football-watching lifetime I've taken in the likes of Wilkins, Butcher, Pearce, Ince, Campbell and others, but there's the suspicion that we've gone soft over recent years. Beckham has stood firm for a long time as being truly Mr England, but the man wears skirts and earrings!

We've seen echoes of the past in new blood such as John Terry for a long while, and you only have to look at the likes of Steven Taylor in the under-21s to know that the next generation is revving up and gripping the badge in expectation, so there is hope.

Of course, a platform on which to showcase that spirit would be nice, and maybe all we can do during these closing stages of Euro 2008 is to look back over past memories and yearn to see the return of those successes. But remember, if you're ever doubting that we can be great again, and if you're even contemplating whether you'll once more hear the massed shouts of our glorious three-worded nation, En-Ger-Land, then look at Pearce's passionate contribution twelve years ago today, and believe ..