Backbeat the word is on the street you didn’t stay up until 4am for a stone cold World Cup classic.
You won’t make many bigger mistakes in your football watching lives as England booked their place in the quarter finals in dramatic, history-making fashion.
Forgive me another Oasis reference but Thomas Tuchel, there are many things that I would like to say to you.
I have frequently championed the Three Lions head coach as England’s ace in the pack and ignored the noise that accompanied some insipid displays in a series of meaningless friendlies.
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For all the resilience and endeavour his players demonstrated last night, it was Tuchel’s decision making and in-game management that ultimately got his side over the line.
Ridiculed for his squad selection, overlooking the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cole Palmer, his faith in players he knew could dig deep and would be prepared to go to the well in times of adversity was thoroughly vindicated in the heat of the Azteca cauldron.
That said, Tuchel would’ve known he’d be facing a tidal wave of criticism had the sending off of Jarell Quansah, the makeshift right-back who had been deputising for the second choice right-back, proved decisive.
Switching to a back five invited pressure but in Dan Burn and John Stones, Tuchel knew he had two towers of power that would be capable of maintaining composure and, when required, ready to throw their considerable frames in front of incoming danger.
Eyebrows, too, would’ve been raised when Tuchel opted to remove Elliot Anderson from the England engine room and trust Declan Rice, booked in the opening minute of the contest, to maintain his discipline and help see out the game.
The Arsenal midfield powerhouse, nursing various injuries, did just that, snuffed out fires and still found the energy reserves to drive his team forward on the rare occasions such opportunities arose.
That Rice ended up wearing the armband with Kane having been taken off in the closing stages was particularly fitting.
Not to wish the remainder of England’s all-time leading goalscorer’s international career away, but whenever he decides he’s had enough of playing for his country, the decision as to who replaces him as captain could not be more straightforward.
While England’s victory was, due to circumstances partly beyond their control, founded on a unity and collective spirit, it should not be lost that the two-goal margin they established in the first half came as a result of some of their most cohesive attacking play of the tournament thus far.
Bukayo Saka’s stealth and the accuracy of his final ball contributed to Jude Bellingham’s opener, while Anthony Gordon’s tigerish workrate was a key ingredient in the Real Madrid star’s second goal.
Further improvements will of course be required if England are to overcome Norway this coming weekend, let alone Argentina and France, but in Tuchel we must trust and after last night’s heroics, why wouldn’t we?
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