When I have to get up early, I invariably do not sleep so well, constantly checking the phone to see the time in the couple of hours before rising. However, I was obviously so shattered this morning that I did not stir until actually woken by the alarm at 5.30. Earl arose shortly after to make us a coffee and open the electronic gate to allow us to get the car out. We were away by 6 and Adam admitted that, were it not for us seeing England this afternoon, he would have left later and chanced missing the start of the game. It was only the second time we have had to depart in the dark - the previous occasion only the day before to catch our flight to Port Elizabeth. So we haven't really done too badly.

It was over 600 kilometres to Bloemfontein. We passed monkeys on the road a few times and there were two or three that had met their end after having been hit by vehicles. They seemed very lacksadaisical about getting off the road when cars came. There seemed no urgency, no instinct to avoid danger. We passed a good number of ostriches too, although at least these were behind fencing, presumably belonging to farmers. Driving north, the weather changed from the grey, squally rain of PE to bright sunshine. Adam did the first half of the journey before I took over. I managed to lose a 20 year old pair of ray ban sunglasses with a fair bit of sentimental value, but a text established I'd left them at Earl's. He will send them to Jo'burg and, assuming they don't arrive before I depart, I am sure I will see Martin and Suzie when they visit family in London, so will retrieve them then. I could have used them on the second half of this drive though, such was the brightness of the South African winter sunshine.

We were low on petrol at one point and with a lack of service stations on the main road, took a detour into a place called Edenburg. On the way in, I could see how poor the area was looking at the settlement structures - made from corrugated iron rather than brick. The place was later described as a one horse town by our guesthouse owners in Bloemfontein. It was a little like stepping back in time. Aside from the petrol station, there was a shop which Adam ventured into. He said that all they sold was knives, drinks and confectionary. When I tried to find him, it looked like it was shut, so I thought he must have gone somewhere else. Even though the petrol station was doing a little business, it was all eerily quiet, even for a Sunday morning.

There were about three stops for roadworks, but we got to Bloemfontein in a little over seven hours and checked in to our guesthouse - the one we'd stayed in almost a fortnight ago after driving from Durban to see Japan beat Cameroon. We had done a lot since then, and seeing our host Henning symbolised a kind of full circle. It was Adam's last full day here and final match before he heads home tomorrow. We didn't hang around too long and headed for the park and ride we used the previous time, which was very efficient. On the way we played New Order's 1990 World Cup song, 'World In Motion' on the CD player and all felt right with the world. It being Sunday, a lot of the businesses in town were closed, even food places which could have made a killing if they had chosen to open. I later read that alcohol sales were normally banned on Sundays, but the rules relaxed for today. I had some lunch in a Chinese Restaurant, whilst Adam tried to sell the spare ticket he thought he had found a buyer for yesterday (who pulled out after getting one elsewhere).

There were a lot of spares floating around, which surprised me a bit. I guess Bloemfontein isn't too easy to get to, being at least three hours from Jo'burg by car and having a very small airport. It's not especially geared up for visitors. The other problem was accommodation. Our guesthouse had received 300 enquiries about staying tonight. I'm glad we had booked back before Christmas, as the alternative was an evening drive to Jo'burg. I would have happily done this after both games here, but Adam did not want to do that after such long pre-match drives on both days, so fair enough. He managed to sell his spare for below face value, getting 600 rand for a 1050 rand ticket. The locals were offering 100 rand and I suspect that some were successful such were the number of tickets going. This has definitely been the tournament of spares.

So, England v Germany. All the history and all that. Basically, England had the players to win this game, but, as everyone will have seen, they failed to perform. The 'equaliser' when the scores were 2-1 was clearly over the line, but I guess the linesman wasn't concentrating on the ball at that moment. It was payback for 1966. Who knows whether it might have changed the game. However, England went gung ho a little too early after the interval and paid the price. It was difficult to believe I was watching a team coached by Fabio Capello. Defensively, they reminded Adam of watching Arsenal.

Mick Jagger was in the crowd, as we suspected he would be after seeing him at the Rustenburg game last night. He was there when England lost to Argentina at this stage in the 1998 finals, and we feared he might be an albatross. So it proved. We didn't hang around and were back at the guesthouse within half an hour of the final whistle. I imagine the traffic to get on the main road to Jo'burg got pretty bad as it was already queuing when we passed the junction.

Our guesthouse owners did a braai, so our evening meal was taken care of. The others at the guesthouse were a mix of people. There were a mother and son who were England fans from Sheffield. The son got a bit drunk and I can't claim to have enjoyed his company too much. There were some Germans too, but they were fine and kept themselves to themselves. Also some friends of our hosts. I didn't feel like making small talk for longer than necessary and after watching the first half of the Argentina v Mexico game whilst eating, sloped off to our room to catch the second half. Argentina are certainly looking the part and if they get past Germany, will face Uruguay or Ghana in the semi. You would have to fancy them for the final.

Tomorrow, after dropping Adam at the airport, I will meet up with Mark, the Gooner who got in touch to claim my spares for the final two matches. He was in attendance at Soccer City to see the Argentina game. Four goals from your first match is a decent return, so let's hope he can keep up his average. Certainly, in the four knockout games so far, there have been a lot more goals than we have seen in the group matches. Long may it continue.