Football started home and was then waylaid in a penalty shoot-out of imperishable drama as England went out of the World Cup at the end of an immense performance of bravery and, at times, brilliance in St Etienne last night.

Paul Ince and David Batty, two players who embody the ethos of British defiance, were the culprits, as both failed to beat goalkeeper Carlos Roa after David Seaman had given them the initial advantage by parrying Heman Crespo's shot.

Thus did history ensnare England for a third consecutive occasion. Back in 1990, it was Stuart Pearce's fluffed penalty which cost them in their World Cup semifinal spectacular with Germany, and, two years ago, Gareth Southgate's miss betrayed them in the semi-finals of the European championship.

Now the names of Ince and Batty are added to the blacklist and England supporters will forever lament their profligacy.

Argentina, only a mere shadow of the team which had played with such imperious authority at the start of their programme here, dominated the game after David Beckham, in a moment of crass stupidity, had been dismissed for a foul on Diego Simeone just 90 seconds into the second half.

More than Ince or Batty, who had replaced Darren Anderton in extra-time, Beckham will have cause to look back in anger on this night when the World Cup moved up a gear and millions savoured the experience.

"Just now I'm distraught but full of pride," said Glenn Hoddle. "I couldn't have asked for more from my players - they were simply magnificent. With a little better luck we would now be in the quarter-finals, but it's not a night for recrimination. Just say England were magnificent but still lost."

In the course of a game which will be replayed a million times in the minds of those who watched it, England had a goal disallowed in the 80th minute, saw a questionable penalty decision go against them in the game's infant stages and, to fill their cup of sorrow, saw Beckham banished from the pitch at a stage when many of the spectators were still only taking their seats in the stand for the second half.

That the referee was correct in his decision to take the ultimatesanction against Beckham brooked no argument. After being heavily charged by Simeone, the Manchester United player, still on the ground, lashed out with his boot to catch the Argentinian behind the knee.

Given the collective effort being put in by those around him, before and after the incident, that was unforgivable, and ultimately England would pay the full, cruel price of his folly.

Argentina's relatively bloodless performance on the night derived from the fact that, until the numbers game changed, Ariel Ortega and Juan Veron, the platform from which they had built their earlier successes, never showed as potent forces.

Like Simeone, they grew in affluence subsequently when the extra man allowed them more time on the ball. But the spectacle of both strikers, Gabriel Batistuta and Claudio Lopez, being withdrawn said it all in a game in which they simply didn't deliver on pedigree.

England will look back on some marvellous individual displays, particularly in central defence, where Tony Adams was reborn and Campbell again proved himself a man for the big occasion.

Ince, later to be overtaken by the biggest gaffe of his career, was seldom less than splendid in midfield, and up front Alan Shearer effectively gave the lie to the theory that he is a striker in decline. Never has he covered so much ground in one game, and, with Michael Owen enjoying some marvellous moments in the first half, it was an evening to restore faith in the British game.

Even an interval of 12 years since Diego Maradona perpetrated a major mischief on Bobby Robson's team hadn't quite prepared us for the depth of England's passion in a first half of breathtaking pace and emotion.

They needed it all after referee Nielsen had pointed emphatically to the penalty spot for Seaman's rash tackle on Simeone after the Argentinian had lost control of the ball. Batistuta converted the kick with total conviction.

But as despair yielded to hope, and Ince, Beckham and Scholes took hold of the midfield heartland, the outlines of reprieve were gradually traced.

Le Saux, taking Ince's pass in full stride, sped pass Zanetti in moments which must have delighted the England bench. But inevitably it was Owen, too young perhaps to be effected by the backdrop of it all, who enticed the Argentinian defence into the concession of a penalty in the 10th minute.

Sheer pace took the Liverpool youngster through the centre of the defence, and as Roberto Ayala and Jose Chamot closed on him, it was Ayala who took him out for the penalty which saw Shearer haul his team back to equality.

That was the stuff of raw courage, and when Owen, on a floodtide of confidence, destroyed the centre of the South Americans' defence, beating first Ayala and then Chamot to put England ahead, the stadium rocked.

It took all of 24 minutes for the feared threat of Ortega to materialise, and then, after burrowing a way through the outer ring of the defence, he lost control to betray the first signs of panic in the ranks of the old adversary.

Almeyda, taking the ball off the back, was the Argentinian most frequently in play in that period, and it testified to the manner in which England had closed down on the men at the top of their midfield formation, Ortega and Veron.

From Paul Scholes' glaring miss in the 39th minute, after Shearer's athleticism had sent him clear on the edge of the area, the winners would derive the inspiration to claw their way back. The pressure was already beginning tobuild when a fatal lapse in concentration allowed Zanetti in for the equaliser.

The defence, expecting the driven free kick by Veron, failed to notice Zanetti lurking at the fringe of the wall, and when the ball was slipped through to him he had ample time to pick a precise spot in the netting.

Beckham's dismissal would colour the second half profoundly, but through it all English character prevailed to the point where Argentina, for all their pressure, excavated remarkably few chances in a cluttered penalty area.

Those which they did produce fell to the substitute Heman Crespo, but, in the first instance, he was too slow to converge on Simeone's measured pass, and then, after getting in behind the defence, he hooked the ball wide from no more than four yards.

Shearer, sparing nothing or nobody in a massive show of industry, was back to deny Vivas in front of an open goal after Lopez had made the opening, and it portrayed more vividly than words the enormous output of energy that went into the mix in a game to enrich World Cup folklore.

Fate had trapped Glen Hoddle's men yet again, and instead of a quarter-final date, they are now preparing for a journey home this morning and time to reflect on the massive disappointment of it all.