Why watching England online is not the future

Due to the perceived dead-rubber' nature of the match, every broadcaster refused to pay what Kentaro wanted, meaning they sold it to Perform to stream it on the internet.

The game was available to watch in cinemas and by payment over the internet. Kentaro and Perform reported that almost 500,000 people watched the game and are said to be very happy with this.

However of those 500,000, many are complaining about various aspects of the event.

The first issue was the quality of picture that many experienced, especially after having paid up to £11.99 to watch the game.

There were many complaints of continual freezing, some so bad that people missed key moments such as the goal or penalty.

If people had access to a fast enough internet connection the next issue became the size of the screen.

The usual procedure for any football fan who cannot go to the match is either to have a few drinks with some mates at home and watch the game on the TV, or to go to the pub and catch the action.

The choice of pubs was dramatically limited to those who had the capability to show the game or were willing to pay it on top of their many other TV licences. This meant that the usual atmosphere generated in pubs all over the country was widely lost.

Saturday's arrangement meant the cinema was the best big screen option, but who wants to watch football in a darkened room with popcorn?

Finally, and this appears to have been a common scenario, people were reduced to sitting at home alone watching the game on a small screen shouting furiously whenever the picture jumped.

For the few that managed to watch the game in good quality on a decent screen, the next issue was Sven Goran-Eriksson. As a pundit the Swede made Alan Shearer look opinionated and exciting.

He refused to be drawn into giving an opinion or verdict and instead decided to just drone on and wrongly pronounce the names of players he himself once coached.

As an event, Kentaro and Perform can call it a success if they wish, although it simply shows how low their expectations must have been.

For every England fan, if internet streaming is the way football broadcasting is going, the future is bleak.