Oh glory be- England in World Cup semi final against Croatia.

Oh glory be- England in World Cup semi final against Croatia.

Oh glory be! It may or may not be coming home but for the first time in 28 years England are in a World Cup semi final and this is the one of those wow moments in English footballing history when nothing comes close to matching the thrill of it all, the feverish anticipation of that seminal moment when the England football team may be on the threshold of something truly unforgettable.

When the final whistle went against Sweden, every bar, pub and restaurant in England simply went bonkers, stir crazy, gripped by wild paroxysms of cheering, unbridled celebration and explosions of beer, plastic cups of lager flying into the air, a blur of alcohol soaring into the ether never to be seen again. For now, England, the country that prides itself on its literary lions, kings and queens, warm beer and timber beamed cottages in the heart of its country, can finally let go and enjoy itself again.

It is hard to believe that it's been 28 years since Bobby Robson's England almost left Germany with egg on its faces and another World Cup defeat. It was the night that the wonderfully talented Paul Gascoigne saw the red mist and England lost its mischievous imp. Gascoigne was booked, promptly blew his hopes of winning a World Cup sky high, the Germans won on penalties and it's never really been the same since. Every four years England have continued to blow hot and cold, never sure of their bearings entirely and then falling on their sword.

But last night it all seemed like another country, another venue, another mentality and a huge cultural shift in the latest fortunes of the England football team. Of course it's been painful and excruciating, of course its been frustrating and exasperating but then this is what we've come to expect over the years. And yet for one night and maybe a couple more nights it may just happen when least expected because 52 years of emptiness and hollowness could be about to come to an end.

It is easy to imagine the likes of Bobby Charlton, Jack Charlton, Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters all patiently waiting at home and hoping against hope that the epic feats of that famous day at the end of July 1966 are about to be replicated and revived again. Dare the English dream again, per chance to dream to quote Shakespeare? Is there indeed a bright rainbow on the horizon after so many turbulent storms for the English national side?

So here are the facts. England beat Sweden quite comprehensively in the quarter finals of the World Cup in Russia. Hold on, England were so superior to Sweden that any of us could have beaten Sweden on Hackney Marshes because Sweden had no alternative game plan when the one they'd devised in the first place seemed to be going nowhere.

 Sweden were quite awful, dreadful, a mockery of a football team, a team of loose and flimsy nonentities with little in the way of ambition. In the end though, England must have thought they'd made much heavier weather of this game than should have been the case. But the yellow shirts of these Scandinavian warriors had nothing to offer the true connoisseurs of the Beautiful Game.

Sweden gave us leaden footed football, wearisome and tiresome, one dimensional football that seemed to be designed by an IKEA flat pack furniture store. It was wooden, mechanical, painstaking football with no focal point, very few forward thinking ideas and hopelessly stuck in a loop. It was football that was harsh, grinding, dull and laborious. Above all, none of us knew quite what to make  of it all.

England of course, quite clearly should have had this match wrapped up with bows on it much earlier than eventually proved the case. For the first time in many a World Cup, England did look like a proper team, united in occasional adversity, a model of togetherness and male bonding, young and perhaps vulnerable at times but nonetheless harmony personified. We may have to pinch ourselves because these days, weeks, months and years very rarely come around if  you happen to be an England football supporter.

Then of course there was the England boss Gareth Southgate. Southgate is immensely likeable, amiable, pleasant in interviews, agreeable, civilised and utterly modest. In fact Southgate is a paragon of virtue, quiet, humble, unassuming, totally without airs and graces. And he also shares a surname with a North London suburb which does seem to be an encouraging omen given that another North London venue was the idyllic setting for another glorious World Cup day in 1966.

So here we were in deepest Russia 52 years later and England have discovered a new identity, feeling, a much deeper emotional affinity to not only their fans but the people who keep the whole operation ticking over behind the scenes. Now England have employed a psychologist, all the latest in conditioning and fitness equipment. There is a very real sense that this time England will not come up short on preparation and planning. Forever England will owe a huge debt of gratitude to St Georges Park where all the finishing touches were fine tuned.

Once again the defensive fortress built exclusively for Gareth Southgate's men, played as one, moving as a unit, communicating on the same level and never for a minute doubting their credentials. John Stones, Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire and Ashley Young were confident, never disturbed or perturbed by anything Sweden could throw at them. They blocked and won the second ball on more than several occasions and were never afraid to carry the ball out from the back with the most streetwise air and unfailing assurance.

It was no coincidence that Dele Alli, initially jittery and frighteningly nervous, eventually made the ball work for him. Alli did lose possession quite wastefully and there were times when it looked as if he needed a thorough refresher course into how not to give the ball away. As the game progressed Ali rectified his mistakes and came through with flying colours with the second decisive goal for England.

But England, after their unnerving introduction to the game, eventually re-cycled possession of the ball and knitted their passes together much more quickly and intuitively. Then it all came right for England. Another superb corner aimed straight  at the centre of the penalty area prompted Harry Maguire to hurl his body at the ball before powering his header ferociously into the back of the Swedish net for England's opener.

From that point onwards England grabbed hold the ball, stretching the whole of the Swedish back four and forcing Sweden back into their defence like a retreating army that doesn't really know what to do when the first grenades are thrown in combat. England were now commanding and demanding the ball, making all of the right noises and then just cutting off any semblance of a Swedish supply line.

We somehow knew that England were always likely to have their bad patch, a pale imitation of who they were in the first half and this was the case. Suddenly Sweden launched a mini comeback threatening to score but they were never more than cautionary warnings. Jordan Pickford, England's new number one pulled off perhaps the save of this World Cup when a Swedish header seemed destined to  turn the game upside down. A Swedish goal would have changed the dynamics completely.

And then delightfully and with some relief  England scored again. Following another spurt of England attacking, a blissfully weighted diagonal cross from just outside the Swedish penalty area, hung in the air until reaching the head of Dele Alli, who, with the most nonchalant of flicks with his head, nodded the ball into the net.

Now it was that the game was psychologically over as a contest. Sweden did clamber their way back into the game but England had stifled the Swedes and drained their opponents with perfect game management and football that was clear, articulate and easier to appreciate.

England were through to only their second World Cup semi final against Croatia. The bitter cynics who dismissed them as has beens and mediocre nobodies had to eat a sizeable portion of humble pie. England admittedly are far from being the complete article and the chances are that the World Cup may well elude them this time but you never know it is England and anything is possible when everything seems impossible. So one more push for the finishing line Gareth Southgate. Those waistcoats are this year's fashion. Let's go for it England.