The problem with losing interest in a tournament because there have been so few competitive games in it is that you miss most of a truly fantastic innings like Maxwell's. I only saw the last twenty minutes or so of it and it offered further proof that the moment you start thinking you've seen it all in sport. something comes along to prove you wrong.

Even so, I'd still say that this is the real story so far to be taken from this World Cup.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...eaches-new-low

There's a good film to be made out of England's startling and humiliating collapse - it's made all the worse because the length of the tournament makes it such a lingering death.