FIFA's technical experts have been assessing the reasons behind those nations' failure to make an impact in the tournament and have produced evidence that the countries with the older players have performed below expectation.

Australia had the second oldest squad in the competition while France did not have a single player aged 23 or under in their squad.

Italy had just one - who never played - and England only two, Aaron Lennon and Joe Hart who are both 23. Hart did not feature at all and Lennon played for a match and a half before being dropped.

Fabio Capello's two most controversial omissions from his World Cup squad were also the youngest contenders - Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson.

By contrast, two of the big surprises in this World Cup have been Germany and Ghana who both boast the youngest squads - Ghana have 11 players 23 and under, seven of whom have played, and Germany nine under-23s of whom seven have featured.

Whether the altitude has affected those with ageing legs is not known but Blatter said: "It's not a surprise that those teams have not done well when you see the statistics with the age of the players."

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Perhaps no surprise, but the two referees with the most egg on their face from this tournament failed to show up at a media open day for match officials in Pretoria.

Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda, in charge of the England/Germany goal-line calamity, and Italy's hitherto respected Roberto Rosetti - who missed Carlos Tevez' blatant offside - were conspicuous by their absence.

Not so Howard Webb, who put in a faultless display in Johannesburg for the Brazil v Chile game, including two inch-perfect offside calls from his assistant Michael Mullarkey. "It's days like these that you feel proud to be English," said one cynic in the Ellis Park press box.

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The issue of empty seats has been baffling World Cup organisers who say that income from ticket sales has surpassed the 2006 tournament in Germany.

"There have been a high level of no shows, and we don't know why, the tickets have been sold, we have to find an explanation," said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

"But sometimes the seats fill up during the game. Ivory Coast v North Korea was half-empty at the start but by half-time it was full.

"England v Germany started with 4,000 empty seats and filled those minute after minute."

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Blatter has nominated USA v Ghana as his favourite match of the tournament so far - he has been to 20 up until today.

"For me it was a match with a high intensity and emotion with some good technical football," said the FIFA president, who refused to enter into the controversy over the Jabulani ball, bar saying: "I like it - it looks lovely."

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Organisers are working throughout the night to get the pitch at Port Elizabeth ready for Friday's quarter-final showdown between tournament favourites Brazil and Holland.

Heavy rain and a dodgy surface have left the turf in a Wembley-like condition and giant warming lamps are being used to get it ready in time.