Well what a testing week it has been to be an England fan.

And it all started so well!

France fell to pieces and Italy scraped a draw against New Zealand but then the trials and tribulations began in Rustenberg.

After the 'embarrassing' draw against Algeria on Friday, John Terry attempted a revolution in camp but thankfully, parity was restored as the crunch Slovenia game approached.

Now thats not a line I expected to use before this World Cup, but ho-hum, its England after all - nothing is straightforward!

So as the game approached the bulldog spirit came out and Jermain Defoe stepped up to the plate to send England into the last 16, and a tasty clash against arch enemy Germany.

So what now for 'our boys'?

It would be easy to start looking for the exit signs given Germany's early form in the tournament, but our players love a good scrap, and who better to take on than the big rivals.

In Mesut Ozil, Phillip Lahm and Miroslav klose the Germans have plenty to offer, but there is no reason Lampard, Rooney and co can't see us through.

Many around me chime in with 'well if we do win, we'll go out in the quarters to Argentina', but why so?

Well yes, the Germans and Argies are looking good this year, but we always up our game for the big ties and as we have shown before, we have the grit and determination to eek out results.

In 2002, Goldenballs Beckham coolly slotted home a penalty to beat the Argies 1-0 in Sapporro and we will never forget the 5-1 mauling on German soil in 2001.

So get out the flags, vuvuzelas (or even Venezuelas as one of my colleagues would have them called) and England hats to roar the boys to victory on Sunday.

Bring on the Germans and bring on the Argies.

I know it was only two weeks ago when I wrote of a looming summer of discontent, but the optimism in my mind tells me we can win both of these games, line up against Paraguay in the semi-finals and who knows what could happen in the final on July 11 when we face Brazil or Uruguay in Soccer City?

I may have my doubts, but if we don't have optimism what have we got?