Okay, I am back in the UK and for the most part, the remainder of this World Cup diary will be about the football. I’ve left South Africa behind, but as the tournament continues, I’ll wrap things up with this entry and a concluding one after the final next weekend.

Before discussing the quarter finals, a little detail about the journey back, as regulars have lived the rest of the trip with me, it would be churlish to neglect its conclusion. Also, there is a wrong to be righted in the name of balance.

I was full of praise for Ethiopian Airlines when I flew out here. However, I did make a pact with the devil before I left. Having paid £475 for a return to Johannesburg, changing planes in Addis Ababa, I knew there was a decent chance that any delay on the outward journey would mean I missed the start of the tournament and possibly my only chance to see a game in Cape Town's Green Point Stadium. So I said, just get me out there in time, and I will suffer any delays on the way back. I was surprised to discover the wait at Addis Ababa before catching the connecting flight going back was only three and a half hours. This might be to do with different time zones or our taking off late from Jo'burg. Whatever, able to kill two hours in an internet cafe at the airport, the time soon went by.

But at half past midnight I learned that my 1am flight had been cancelled, and that along with my fellow passengers I would be put on another at 10am the following morning. It meant being ferried to a hotel with the necessary organisation and visa paperwork meaning I got my head down a little after 2am. I have to admit though that the upside of this was seeing the parts of the Ethiopian capital that the tourist brochures don't show you - if indeed there is a tourist industry in this country. We passed prostitutes, shops made from corrugated iron, poorly lit streets and more mud than the worst Glastonbury on record. Oh and stray dogs aplenty. There seemed to be a lot of neon in use, some of it looking like fairy lights on a Christmas tree. It was an odd image amongst all the squalor, and I didn't get why the lighting was turned on for businesses that had closed for the night. Electricity is presumably not free, but maybe nobody pays their bills. At least it provided street lighting of a sort.

I had felt a little ill on the flight from Jo'burg and was feeling dehydrated. I chanced drinking the hotel tap water. Big mistake. No details required, but the following morning saw activity in the hotel bathroom that wouldn't be in the brochure. Thank the stars for immodium that's all I will say. As the coach taking us to the airport left at 7am, I managed to get four hours' kip. I regard the first four hours of a night's sleep as the essential bit. I often wake up after that and for the rest of the night sleep in fits and starts. This time, I was so knackered that there was no chance of my waking up naturally in time for the bus, so I set the alarm on my phone giving me time for a much needed, but unexciting hotel breakfast. I hadn't eaten since the meal on the flight at about 3.30pm the previous day.

The flight left a little after 10, but the bonus was that we flew direct to London rather than stopping off in Rome, as scheduled. Hallelujah. I sat next to an England fan who was flying home. He had been out at the tournament with mates, but once Fabio Capello's side were eliminated, he just wanted to get back to England. He had a ticket for the final, but has left it with his friends to sell. I could not believe he would pass up a chance to see the final, but he then told me he had done exactly the same in Germany four years previously. I asked how he had been fortunate enough to get tickets in the ballot and he told me he and his pals had made multiple applications - 'about a thousand' he said, doubtless exaggerating - and that between them they had a large number of spares for other games in the tournament, which they had in the main managed to shift for face value. I certainly put in three different applications, as buyers were limited to seven matches each. It was the only way I could see a match in every stadium. I tried try a similar strategy in Germany for 2006, but was far less successful, presumably due to greater demand.

At the airport in Jo'burg, I had a final opportunity to check the stores for World Cup merchandise. The only licenced item I have bought at this tournament has been the programme. T-shirts are from £20 and baseball caps the same. Replica team shirts are around £75. Vuvuzelas are a tenner. What is most astonishing of all is that some people are actually buying the licensed products at these prices. However, I predict the mother of all sales in a multitude of outlets after 11th July as there is no way on earth they are going to sell all of the stuff on offer at these prices. There simply aren't enough mugs in the country. What is particularly galling is that the stuff is doubtless produced very cheap in South East Asian sweatshops. FIFA's profiteering is unethical in several ways, but they have a monopoly and nothing's going to change. It is certainly one of the most corrupt organisations on the planet, possibly the most corrupt in world sport. Mind you, the South African government are hardly a shining light, having spent millions on match tickets for their staff. Incidentally, as Russia is in the running for the 2018 World Cup, the nature of FIFA means England haven’t got a chance of winning enough votes. Russia will stage it, with backhanders ensuring their success. That’s one tournament I seriously cannot envisage attending in the flesh.

I got to my front door some 31 hours after my plane left the runway at Oliver Tambo airport. The connection was a pain, but in fact the most painful part of the journey was Heathrow to home via underground and overground trains.

The following day saw the first pair of quarter finals – Brazil v Holland in Port Elizabeth and Ghana v Uruguay in Soccer City. I was genuinely shocked to see Brazil eliminated as I really did not expect them to defend as badly as they did for Holland’s goals. The Dutch have played some workmanlike football with just enough flair to win their matches. Their progression through the tournament has been smooth, but I simply felt like Brazil would be a tougher test for them and one too great. But that’s the magic of knockout football. It’s interesting that you can have a duff defeat in the group stage (think Germany and Spain) but still progress. If your bad day at the office comes a bit later, then you’re on the plane home. Fair play to Holland though. Their defence was questioned before the start of the finals, and is far from stuffed with big reputations. But they limited Brazil to one goal, which is no mean feat.

For some reason, I was under the impression that the winner of this game would meet Spain or Paraguay. The other semi-final being between Germany/Argentina and Ghana/Uruguay. I think I probably worked this out from a newspaper during a long drive when I was simultaneously trying to figure out the route. At least that’s my excuse. I was probably at the wheel at the time to boot. However, reality has dawned and I settled down for the Ghana v Uruguay knowing that the winner would be facing the Dutch in a semi-final in Cape Town for which my first host on the trip, Harv, would be in attendance. On the basis that it is Africa’s tournament and I have found Uruguay generally workmanlike, I favoured Ghana to win. However, as everyone will have seen they blew it in remarkable style. Arsenal fans will remember Dennis Bergkamp’s miss in that 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay at Villa Park. This was worse in the sense of the timing. From memory, the Iceman never took another penalty, but at least Asamoah Gyan took another straight away in the shoot out. Two of his team-mates also missed, but I suspect Gyan will not sleep well for a few nights as he had the best chance of sending his country into the last four and failed to seize the moment. Penalty shoot outs provide drama, but ultimately, they are not far short of a lottery. It is especially unsatisfactory for finals themselves to be settled this way, such as happened in 1994.

ITV covered both matches on the Friday and I have to say I don’t feel like I have missed much from not being here where they are concerned. I don’t really feel like many of these pundits give any real analysis that the viewer can’t work out for themselves. Jimmy Greaves may have been an alcoholic idiot, but at least he was entertaining. Punditry has largely become bland and safe. An easy buck for ex pros. I think I’ve relayed the story about Messrs Shearer, Hansen and Dixon being driven for a round of golf near Cape Town. If not, the long and short of it is that they are by and large pretty arrogant and ignorant. And I know I have stated that the media by and large are not seeing anything of the real South Africa. From watching BBC’s Saturday coverage of the finals, it appears they have elected to base the studio presenters and pundits in Cape Town. Interesting decision. Why not Johannesburg? A far more central point for all the stadiums with the Gauteng region being very much the heart of the tournament. Possibly because a studio with Soccer City in the background is not such a pleasant place to work. Sod that. I want Lineker and company sweating it in Soweto if my licence fee is funding their sojourn.

Anyway, Germany’s demolition of Argentina put England’s collapse last weekend in a slightly more positive light. The question about Argentina has always been their defence. Tested seriously for the first time, it collapsed. Maradona’s team have certainly looked good in this tournament up to now, but football basics must eventually catch up with you. Normally, they would rely on outscoring the opposition, but Germany were as good at the back as they were executing counter-attacks. Spain were expected to beat Paraguay but made hard work of it. It was a fantastic last 30 minutes for drama, but the hour we had to endure before was fairly tortuous. Spain against Germany in Durban next Wednesday will be quite a semi-final.

It’s interesting to see that, although only three European sides made it to the last eight, all three have progressed further. Only one of the four South American sides in the last eight have joined them, and Uruguay needed a penalty shoot out to do that. There has been a fair dose of drama in the quarter final rounds, and let us hope for more of the same in the remaining matches.

I’ll next write after the final, just to give some concluding thoughts on the tournament as a whole.

Finally, just a quick steer for those that have come to this a bit late and are unable to locate the earlier diary posts. Basically, click here and you should find all the previous ones.