Among life's minor irritations are jobs half done and stories only half told. England flew home yesterday saddened by the manner of their latest premature exit from a World Cup, but also annoyed that they had not given themselves an opportunity to do better.

Having reached a point where they looked capable of outscoring Argentina in an open game England let their guard slip in the last minute of the first half, lost David Beckham to a moment of crass retaliation in the opening minute of the second, became forced into a stubborn rearguard action and ended up being eliminated on penalties for a third major tournament in the Nineties.

"It was a mistake, a silly mistake," the England coach Glenn Hoddle said of Beckham's moment of petulance yesterday, "but Dennis Bergkamp did something more violent (treading on Sinisa Mihajlovic before Holland defeated Yugoslavia with a goal in stoppage time) and the referee didn't see it, or he chose not to see it. Young David's done something that wasn't violent conduct. For me, it shouldn't have been a red card."

As it is, Beckham has also been fined £2,000 and banned from the first two qualifiers for the 2000 European Championship.

Remembering how, shortly before the World Cup, the England coach defended Alan Shearer against a charge of misconduct for allegedly kicking Leicester's Neil Lennon in the face and despite apparently damning television evidence, it is difficult to know exactly where Hoddle stands on crime and punishment in football.

He did not help his case by accusing Kim Nielsen, the Danish official, of inconsistency. "Why does David Seaman get booked for bringing down Simeone for the first penalty," Hoddle complained, "when their defender (Roberto Ayala) gets nothing for bringing down Michael Owen for the second? As he was the last defender it could have been a red card."

Since the television replays suggested Ayala had not made contact with Owen, the Argentinian's dismissal would have born echoes of the sending-off of Antonio Rattin, their 1966 World Cup captain, in the quarter-final against England. But for that decision Alf Ramsey's team might have gone out there and then.

The fact that Owen scored one of the best goals ever seen in a World Cup, to give England an early 2-1 lead, merely compounded the frustration of Hoddle and his players. But for Beckham's red card England might well have been packing their bags for a quarter-final against Holland in Marseille on Saturday instead of a subdued return home.

At least that is one hypothesis. Alternatively, the slickly worked free-kick which enabled Javier Zanetti to make it 2-2 at the end of the first half might well have given Argentina the momentum to dominate the second. As it was they appeared equally stunned by England's reduction to 10 men.

Either way the 1998 tournament was cheated of what looked like becoming its best encounter so far by the gremlin in Beckham's make-up which from time to time persuades him to act like a baby who keeps throwing its rattle away. Having been flattened from behind by Diego Simeone's crude challenge the Manchester United player, still lying face down, felt it necessary to catch Simeone with a flailing foot as the Argentinian stumbled over him. "David couldn't talk in the dressing room afterwards," said Hoddle. "He went to a couple of staff and said `sorry'. It's his reaction which concerns me now. He's 23 and a major talent. He can turn this into a positive, and perhaps iron out a few of his previous problems."

Beckham also made a public expression of apology yesterday. "This is without doubt the worst moment of my career. I will always regret my actions during last night's game. I have apologised to the England players and management and I want every England supporter to know how deeply sorry I am. I only hope that I will have the opportunity in the future to be part of a successful England team in the European Championships and World Cup."

Referee Nielsen, who was standing over Beckham, would have been in trouble with his overseers had he not produced the red card, and Hoddle's defence of his player sounded somewhat lame.

Hoddle was on more solid ground over the handball by Jose Chamot in extra-time which went unobserved by the officials. And as Arsene Wenger told him afterwards, the header from Sol Campbell, from Darren Anderton's corner, which Nielsen disallowed in the 81st minute because Alan Shearer had raised an elbow making a challenge, would have been permitted in England.

Hoddle will always believe his team would have won with a full side, and was scornful about Argentina's response to finding themselves up against 10 men. "If we'd performed like that, leaving three at the back, becoming very cautious and just getting through on penalties then we'd have got a bit of stick," he said.

Certainly the decision of Daniel Passarella to take off Gabriel Batistuta, his most likely match-winner, after 68 minutes was odd.

But as Cesar Luis Menotti, the chain-smoker who led Argentina to success as hosts in the 1978 World Cup, pointed out, a coach may be 60 per cent responsible for a team's performance in the build-up to a match but once the game has begun he is less than 10 per cent accountable for what happens on the field.

Critics of Hoddle's reluctance to introduce Owen either at the start of the game against Romania or immediately after England had fallen behind at the beginning of the second half might remember this. That match, and the chance to win Group G and avoid Argentina in the second round, was lost because of two elementary defensive errors and Hoddle believes that England's game still needs to purge itself of these lapses in concentration.

"There is an empty feeling inside," Hoddle admitted. "But I had an encouraging phone call from the Prime Minister. He said everyone back home was very proud of how we conducted ourselves. That gives you a bit of a lift."

It is more likely, however, that anyone who cared was still cursing the day Beckham was born.

There has been much discussion about who should have taken England's kicks in the shoot-out but in the absence of Beckham, Paul Scholes and Anderton, Hoddle's hand was pretty thin. Half of the remaining players did not fancy it, and at least David Batty volunteered despite not having taken a penalty before.

In the event Norah Batty might have done better. And so, for England, another World Cup has gone by.