Overwhelming. That's probably the best word to describe just how much the city of Liverpool has changed so much since I was last there in April & May 1988. It is barely recognisable. So much development has taken place, and continues to do so. A variety of hotels have leapt skywards, as have other attractions - the Liverpool Museum, which opens this week; the Echo Arena, sponsored by the world's number one newspaper for all things LFC, the Liverpool Echo; the Wheel of Liverpool; the Liverpool One shopping centre; Liverpool John Moores University has erected several buildings to accommodate the various courses of study they offer. And, of course, the greatest football ground known to mankind and martians alike. "A shrine, a bastion of invincibility", as the legendary Bill Shankly once described Anfield in a famous BBC interview. Last week, I described my visit to Die Autostadt in Wolfsburg as akin to my being a kid in a sweet shop. Here, I was a kid in a sweet shop again, but this time round, the supply of sweets was inexhaustible! If I had an unlimited budget, be in no doubt that I would have needed a removal van to take away every single item I wanted to buy from the club shop. The range of merchandise is simply staggering! Rather than expound upon it, I'm sure you can get a better idea from visiting www.liverpoolfc.tv The shop raid preceded traditional English fare, i.e. a scrummy (scrumptious, to use the Queen's English) fish & chips lunch, at The Boot Room Sports Café - thoroughly recommended, as are bookings! - and followed an absolute must-do on any visit to the city - the stadium tour and museum visit, including a photo with the most prized trophy in club football. And after a recent change of rules by UEFA, Anfield is the only place you'll get to experience it! No, ManUre fans, you'll never match our achievements. Cue a chorus of "…we've won it five ti-i-imes, In Istanbul, we won it five times!" Some four-and-a-half hours after entering Anfield, I emerged with bagloads of goodies, a full tummy, and the biggest smile on my face seen at the ground since King Kenny last celebrated a Liverpool goal since returning to the dugout. Special thanks to Laura, our drop-dead-gorgeous tour guide - she absolutely rocks!! Or, as 'Christmas' (Andy Carroll) would say in his dulcet Geordie tones, "She's a reet smasher, pet!" When you're making a flying visit to your spiritual home, there's only one way to finish off the tourist side of things - a ride on the city's greatest tourist attraction. It's had two songs written about it, one of which was remade in 1989 to help with fundraising for the Hillsborough appeal. After a raid on the Liverpool tourism shop, where you also buy your ferry tickets, the 4.15 "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" was a given - a half-hour round trip on the "Royal Daffodil", stopping at the Seacombe and Woodside terminals before heading back to the Pier Head. Time to buy an Echo - Charlie Adam's signing was confirmed. Yes!! - and then off home for a quick wash and change before a mini family reunion. Four generations of us to mark a rare visit from the Scousekiwi. The last time I saw the majority of the younger ones they were knee-high to a grasshopper (or as near as dammit!) If it's Saturday, it must be Wolfsburg, said my schedule, which, when you wake up in Liverpool, is a bit of an issue. Me cousins were great, picking me up and dropping me off at M-word Airport for the Lufthansa flights from and to Frankfurt, and once off the latter and through Customs it was straight on the train to Frankfurt Haubtbahnhof, and all change for Wolfsburg. Incidentally, talking of H.M. Customs, in this age of high security etc., I never once had my passport picture checked by the folk at M-word when departing. Perhaps it's because I've got one of those e-passports, but it still seemed rather strange, to put it mildly. Once in Wolfsburg, a quick dash to the hotel was required, prior to heading to the ground for what has to have been the best game of the tournament so far - the technical quality was outstanding. Prior to it, I got to my media tribune seat early so I could keep an eye on the game between England and France, which the latter dominated. Jill Scott gave England the lead against the run of play on the hour, but the French richly deserved their late equaliser from Elise Bussaglia, which prompted extra time in

A fish-eye view of heaven on any match-day A touch for luck ... The most famous stand in the world, as seen from the dugout Worshipping at the feet of Bill Shankly, the man who made the people happy Show us your medals! Some of King Kenny's numerous honours on display in the museum On the "Royal Daffodil" with part of the Liverpool skyline forming the backdrop, including the Royal Liver Building just left of centre

Leverkusen. During it, and long before it, England was hanging on for their old stand-by, penalties. They got their wish, and were on track to record a rare win in this aspect of the game until Claire Rafferty put her shot wide. Then captain Faye White stepped up and hit the bar, an effort which clinched a 4-3 shoot-out victory for my Women's World Cup dark horses. Germany and Japan followed, and served up an absolute belter of a match, described in detail separately. History shows that the world champions' reign was ended by an extra time goal from substitute Karina Maruyama, but what a way to bow out - a terrific tussle, bristling with technical excellence. Everyone was talking about it on Sunday, and rightly so. How the host nation's demise will affect the rest of the tournament, in terms of local media interest, public support, etc., remains to be seen. There should be some bargains in the official tournament shops on sale before the end of the week!! From Wolfsburg to Dresden, and while I was trundling around the countryside on the trains, Sweden were doing a number on Australia, as in your number's up. The Matildas' dream came to an end in Augsburg, with Lotta Schelin instrumental in Sweden's 3-1 win, a result which was on the cards after just sixteen minutes, by which time Therese Sjogran and Lisa Dahlkvist - she's had an effective tournament - had found the net. Dual international Ellyse Perry pulled a goal back five minutes before half-time for the West Islanders, but Schelin settled the contest seven minutes into the second spell. An intriguing statistic from the match saw the Swedes incur twenty fouls to Australia's five. The Matildas' country-woman, referee Jacqui Melksham, sadly made up for this in the feature game of the day, and the taxi for her early flight home was waiting long before she blew the final whistle on an enthralling sold-out encounter between the USA and Brazil, which the two-time world champions won 5-3 on penalties. Looking back, it was a game which had a bit of everything. A Brazilian own goal after 77 seconds; some superb goalkeeping from Hope Solo - if she's not the best female goalkeeper in the world right now, then the individual concerned is not at this tournament, because I've seen fourteen of the sixteen teams who've played here, and there are no 'keepers better than Team USA's number one! A sending off - the USA's Rachel Buehler, which prompted a twice-taken penalty, the first of which was saved by Solo, who was deemed to have moved by our West Island match officials. Marta fired home the retake, and was the subject of a crescendo of boos for the remainder of a fascinating match, which saw the ten women take the game to extra time. Two minutes into which Miss Popularity of Germany 2011 - NOT! - scored again, but again, Marta's goal should have been denied, this time by an offside flag. That made it 2-1 to Brazil, who indulged in all sorts of gamesmanship to see out the match. Their efforts saw an additional three minutes of time tacked on to the two hours, and in the second of them, Abby Wambach headed home a gem of a Megan Rapinoe cross to the far post to make it 2-2 and force a penalty shoot-out. You just knew Solo would come up trumps in this, and sure enough … Daiane was denied by one of the game's true characters, and with her team-mates drilling home their spot-kicks, it was bye bye Brazil - in many ways, a case of justice served. So to the semi-finals. A mouth-watering duel between France and the USA is scheduled for Moencengladbach on Wednesday, while I will be in Frankfurt to take in the clash between Japan and Sweden straight afterwards. But not before taking the chance to indulge in a spot of sight-seeing in Dresden, Berlin and Stuttgart, with visits to the Porsche and Mercedes Benz plants planned at the last-mentioned city. Quarter-final details: Brazil 2 (Marta (68 pen, 92)), USA 2 ("oggie" (2), A. Wambach (120)) aet  HT 0-1  FT 1-1 USA 5-3 on pens England 1 (J. Scott (50)), France 1 (E. Bussaglia (88)) aet  HT 0-0  FT 1-1   France, 4-3 on pens Germany 0, Japan 1 (K. Maruyama (108)) aet  HT 0-0  FT 0-0 Sweden 3 (T. Sjogran (11), L. Dahlkvist (16), L. Schelin (52)), Australia 1 (E. Perry (40))  HT 2-1