MATT LAWTON'S EURO-BLOG: Wenger picks the wrong game but we English get a blunt reminder how far down the pecking order we've sunk

Face in the crowd: Arsene Wenger poses with a French fan before France's 0-0 draw with Romania

Hats off to Wenger. He always travels to the major tournaments and he always takes in as many games as he can, usually while working for  French TV. On Sunday night he watched Tottenham's Luka Modric secure victory for Croatia - he was suitably impressed - and yesterday morning he was on his way to Zurich for the France game against Romania. Should have gone to Berne for what was a cracker of a match between Holland and Italy but hey ho. You can't win 'em all.

Italian sob: Antonio Cassano of Italy can't believe his side has suffered their worst defeat since the 1970 World Cup Final

I've always regarded Wenger as a class act but what stood out on this occasion was the sight of him waving wildly to a woman who was boarding the plane ahead of us.

"She works for UEFA," he said. "But she used to work in the ticket office at Arsenal."

It says so much about a man when he can make time for everyone at his football club from the superstar signing to a relatively anonymous member of the office staff.

Presumably, Wenger and his French television colleagues were well looked after once they arrived at Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium last night. The same cannot exactly be said of the English press in Berne.

The Swiss, and indeed the Austrians, have so far proved to be excellent hosts. But what we English journalists now have to accept is that, without a team in the tournament, we have dropped way down the pecking order.

Not so much second-class citizens as 17th-class citizens. And that's if we're arrogant enough to consider ourselves the biggest nation not to have qualified.

While members of the Dutch and Italian media were quite rightly provided with desks, power points and television monitors, we found ourselves relying on battery power alone with our computers on our laps.

Er, the "Stade de Suisse", as UEFA like to call it in polite circles

Not exactly a hardship when it remains a privilege to have a seat at such a game but a harsh reminder, none the less, of England's abject failure.

That said, England's ticket touts continue to prosper. There they were yesterday, outside the main railway station in Berne, hunting in packs, looking to exploit real football fans by charging outrageous prices. Charming people. A real credit to the country.

One other thing. Last night Holland beat Italy at the "Stade de Suisse" when the stadium is better known as the "Wankdorf". Now why, I'd like to ask UEFA, would that be?