Very few people know exactly what an angry fan told David Beckham and some of the England football players after strolling into their dressing room following the 0-0 draw with Algeria at the World Cup. But plenty of others know what they'd like to say to the England team.
In an incident heading straight for football folklore, a man got past security and into the dressing room, said what he had to say, and then was escorted from the stadium by a local organizing committee official. Police are now investigating.
The incident set off reaction from many disillusioned fans following one of England's worst performances in years.
``I don't know what he said, but I know what I would have said,'' said Alan Wright, who is 57 and has been a dedicated England fan since the 1966 World Cup triumph.
``They looked terrified,'' Wright said of the way England played on Friday night. ``They looked like the lambs to the slaughter instead of slaughtering the lambs.''
So what would Wright have done, if suddenly able to confront coach Fabio Capello and the players?
``To give the team a gee-up, somebody's got to do it,'' he said as he continued to analyze the Algeria match with other England fans over a beer Saturday on Cape Town's waterfront.
Steve Thompson of Newcastle was more upset with the English squad's failure to acknowledge the tens of thousands of England fans who traveled to the Green Point Stadium for the match. Striker Wayne Rooney was upset with fans for booing them off the field.
``I would have told them all to get back on the pitch and go and thank the fans for coming out and support them in vast numbers,'' Thompson said.
Zuzzette Holland of Bournemouth said her tirade would not be fit for publication.
``I think it would go beep, beep, beep, beep,'' she said, mimicking the sound of curse words being censored on TV. ``They are blaming the ball, which is like bad workmanship, blaming your tools.''
FIFA, football's world governing body, said it was unacceptable that the fan broke through security lines and entered the England players' dressing rooms not long after British princes Harry and William had been in there.
FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot says security will be tightened to ensure such an incident never happens again.
``Luckily it was after the princes had left, 10 minutes after,'' said Beckham, who is traveling with the England squad despite being ruled out with injury. ``Obviously it has been blown out of proportion. The actual fan literally just walked in very casually and just said something to me and then walked out. There was no scuffle.''
``He just walked in, said 'hello,''' Beckham said.
Western Cape police are trying to locate the dressing room intruder, but there are indications that the man has already got quite a reputation among other traveling England supporters.
``He is a hero for me, yes. I bought him a drink last night. A great guy,'' Wright said. ``I could not get to him - he was like a cult hero.''
Shane Roberts, 46, had an idea of what should happen to the intruder if he ever identifies himself publicly.
``He'll get knighted when he gets back,'' Roberts joked. ``He'll be OK.''
