Hiddink has never remained at the helm for more than five years anywhere, but from his first major managerial position at PSV it was predestined that the ex-De Graafschap midfielder would mature into a coaching maestro.

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But in the mix of these criticisms were entertaining and gripping matches that answered questions over why the World Cup is held in such regard.

Footballing World looks back on three more classic games from Germany 2006 in part two of our compilation.

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At his majestic best, between the previous two World Cups, Zinedine Zidane was a maverick artisan, his skill, vision and balletic ball control could make a football pitch look five miles wide. But at his petulant, loutish worst he brought the game into disrepute. But which will be our dominant memory of Zizou in years to come?

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But in the mix of these criticisms were entertaining and gripping matches that answered questions over why the World Cup is held in such regard.

Footballing World looks back on three classic games from Germany 2006 in part one of our compilation.

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After the mind-blowing number of upsets at the previous World Cup, the 2006 tournament - with the odd exception - saw football’s established names rule once more. And, though defences ruled and there were a lack of enthralling matches, there is still much to remember from the 2006 World Cup - good and bad.

Sad though it is, there can be no doubt what the defining image of the 2006 World Cup is: a brutish head-butt from the greatest player of this generation, provoked by taunting from Marco Materazzi.

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West Germany’s victory in Switzerland at the 1954 World Cup against Hungary in the final – who they had lost 8-3 to in the group stages – was hugely unexpected. 52 years later, another nation on foreign soil would achieve a similarly surprising and phenomenal victory.

The Italian team, in the face of domestic turmoil that was directly affecting the future of 13 of the 23-man squad, bonded and united better than coach Marcello Lippi could have ever desired, and by living in seclusion at a base in the west German city of Duisburg, the focus was principally on the imminent campaign.

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Two unfancied nations in France and Italy were the eventual participants in Berlin to conclude a glorious World Cup tournament. And so despite the likes of Ronaldinho, Leo Messi and Wayne Rooney failing to light up an already dazzling tournament, it was a time for the less well-known players to make an impact.

Footballing World selects the star 11 players from a month in Germany.

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Golden Balls, Swollen Balls, Bugger All.

In the land of excessive hope and little glory, English football fans are once again left with nothing to celebrate and only scapegoats to find.

To say that England’s flawed World Cup campaign was embarrassing is nothing short of an understatement, it was simply pathetic.

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Less than 5% of Germans in one of the regular opinion polls believed that it would be Michael Ballack lifting the Jules Rimet trophy on July 9. Despite being essentially proved right, the message sent out was that Jurgen Klinsmann and his squad had little backing and the tournament would merely pass by most of the population.

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