If any Fifa dignitaries happened to drop in on London this week for a fix of international football at its finest delivered by Brazil and Italy, they would have flown back to Switzerland with some very strong opinions about England's bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
Here, crystallised in one evening's entertainment, were all the persuasive reasons why England should – and also arguably why they should not – put on the greatest show on earth.
So here is the pro: "What a stadium!" yelled the man from Gazzetta dello Sport. "We have nothing like this in Italy. We have to learn how to do this." Well said. The facilities at English stadiums are top-class, with off-stage organisation to match. The visiting fans – once they had snapped photographs with the mounted police, sipped a pre-match drink at the Drayton Arms and whacked their drums on Hornsey Road – were able to navigate the stadium and its facilities with comfort and ease.
And here is the con: "Ohmigod," lamented the man from Gazzetta. "The metro." He was aghast by his inability to get on to even one of the sardine specials to make his way by tube to the stadium. A PA announcement five minutes from the end of the game then announced that Arsenal station was closed. Another one a couple of minutes later said: "Er, sorry about that, actually Holloway Road is closed." Good luck to all the overseas visitors unfamiliar with the state of our public transport system.
Compared to the immaculately organised shuttling of fans at the last two World Cups, in Germany 2006 and South Korea/Japan in 2002, this is one area where England looks pretty shambolic.
But if there was one factor that should have made an impression on Fifa – wherever it chooses to host its tournament – it was the atmosphere. Inside the Emirates Stadium it was a throwback – infinitely better and considerably more boisterous, than any World Cup finals game since Italia 90 because of the liberating absence of corporate guests.
Didier Deschamps, at the time the France captain, famously spoke out about the suits he despised inside the stadiums in the build-up to the World Cup final in 1998, and it has got worse ever since. Come on Fifa. It's enough, now. Official sponsors are welcome to their pitchside hoardings and half-time adverts, which will rake in plenty of revenue, but we'll have the tickets back for the fans, thanks very much. Believe it or not, your product will be even more marketable if it looks and sounds half as wonderful as the Emirates Stadium did on Tuesday night.
The response from the players was a memorable match high on skill and competitive edge. While Robinho and Elano captured the headlines with sparkling goals, Ronaldinho seemed to glean particular pleasure from his night's work. The Italians, though, were not so impressed. They thought he was trying too hard to upstage opponents he works with and against in Serie A, to make people look foolish. They thought he was showing off and grudgingly gave him a mark of only six out of 10. Only Adriano scored worse.
To less partial judges, Ronaldinho's repertoire of tricks rolled back the years. He looked revitalised, sharp, more agile. Mind you, that's the benefit of playing alongside the portly Adriano. With the current world champions beaten, Kaka and Diego to come back into the side, and Dani Alves deemed worthy of only a 20-minute cameo appearance, Brazil are warming up nicely for the next World Cup.
