The one-man show has now closed down - our obsession with Wayne Rooney has given way to interest in younger, fresher names

Wayne Rooney cut a frustrated figure as he tried to help England find a way back into the match

The message to Wayne Rooney could have been no clearer. Neymar, Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben had shown England’s senior striker what needs to be done at World Cups. The great players are not visitors to the grandest stage. They write their names across the sky.

Not only Brazil’s poster boy and Holland’s R & R: Chile’s marvellous strike runner, Alexis Sanchez, and started this tournament with a flourish. Even Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell jumped in on the act with a boisterous performance in his country’s thrilling victory over Uruguay earlier in the day. Mario Balotelli is also on the board.

Rooney’s response? A quiet first half hour of confusion about whether to help his left-back, Leighton Baines, deal with a wave of Italian attacks or join the creative department further up the pitch. Just as the dump-Rooney society were starting to rev up, Raheem Sterling struck a sweet pass for England’s senior striker to deliver the perfect left-foot cross into the path of Daniel Sturridge to equalise. But a painfully missed chance in the second half and another wild shot over the bar raised further doubts about his place in this England team.

All across this land, the spirit of Brazilian football has inspired the finest players at this competition to uphold the great tradition. England’s youngsters answered that call well, laying on some of the best attacking play we have seen from them at a tournament for years.

If you step on a Brazilian football pitch, it is not to go through the motions. Sluggishness, mediocrity and timidity are instantly exposed by the buttercup light in which the game is played in these parts. England were determined to join that party. Rooney, though, is not yet through the door.