Nothing quite becomes England in major tournaments as their leaving of them. Before Sven-Goran Eriksson's players flew home on Saturday the proprieties were observed with a smoothness borne of frequent practice.
England were disappointed not to have gone further in the World Cup but have learned a lot and hoped to do better next time.
The scene has been played out in 12 World Cups or European Championships since England's isolated success in 1966. Unless the domestic fixture list relents to allow the national coach more time with his squad and the players more rest between engagements the script will not change.
When the FA sanctioned the breakaway which led to the formation of the Premier League 10 years ago, it did so in the belief that the move would help the national team. England, the FA stated in its 1991 Blueprint for Football, would be at the apex of a new pyramid of which the Premier League would be an integral part.
The reality is that the Premier League has become its own pyramid with Mammon at its apex and the England team as helpless an onlooker as the Sphinx. Far from benefiting the development of the national side, moreover, the Premier League has hampered its progress with foreign imports.
There is no escaping the fact that among the leading English clubs most goals are either scored or made by foreigners, the best passers are foreigners and with the exception of Rio Ferdinand the best defenders are foreigners.
It would help England if its footballers could play less often, but while the English game accepts the need for reducing the fixture list, few clubs could stand the loss of income this would involve.
Not surprisingly, therefore, Eriksson has more or less given up hope of seeing the burden on his squad eased. "We need less teams in the Premier League but that's impossible," he said, just before England flew home. "We also need them to have a winter break but I don't know if we will get that." A glance at the December 26th attendance figures should put him right there.
It is surely no accident that, going into the World Cup, the fittest player in the England squad was Owen Hargreaves, who plays for Bayern Munich in the 18-team German league where a footballer's career is less of a treadmill. Before Eriksson took his squad to Dubai to begin training, fitness and blood tests revealed his Premier League players were showing signs of fatigue.
This may explain why, in each of their five World Cup matches, England fell away after half-time. Eriksson put this down to tiredness - a bit of a handicap in a team relying so much on pace.
"Eriksson talks about pace," said Brazilian coach, Felipe Scolari, after his 10 men had passed England to oblivion. "But nothing can run faster than the ball."
Perhaps that was the trouble. England spent too much energy running after the ball because they could not run well enough with it.
There is a counter argument. England have had a better World Cup than France, Italy and Argentina, who had more gifted squads and whose players have a lighter domestic workload.
It also needs to be remembered that the successful club sides of the past regularly used fewer players in seasons involving 60-matches or more, although they did not have to divide their attention between the championship and the Champions' League.
Yet the intensity of the game is even greater now than it was then. The relaxation of the offside law, for example, means players cover more ground at a greater pace.
In general, levels of fitness in English football have never been so high. But when the England team needs its players to be at their peak, many are battered by the labours of the previous nine months.
Eriksson's squad will soon report for pre-season training and memories of Japan will be overtaken by a resumption of Alex Ferguson's moods and Arsene Wenger's myopia. Not to worry. A date for the next England inquest has provisionally been arranged for June 2004. And the verdict will be the same: natural causes.
