Pride is not the worst of sins. In fact, as Hollywood actor Gene Wilder surmised, it's one of the most interesting ones.
And precisely 30 years on from England's closest shave with World Cup glory since 1966, Peter Shilton takes only pride in the effect it had on a nation's morale.
It ended, as it seemed to so often, at the hands of a familiar shoot-out nemesis, and Shilton missed out on a reunion with 'Hand of God' cheat Diego Maradona against Argentina in the final.
But when he bowed out, Shilton had a record 125 England caps and a joint record 10 clean sheets at the World Cup finals among his 1,390 appearances in professional football.
Not bad for a lad who used to hang from the bannisters above his dad's greengrocery in Leicester in a desperate attempt to extend the length of his arms.
“It was a great achievement by the team to reach the semi-finals, and we saved our best performance of the tournament for last,” said Shilton, now 70.
“Of course it would have been nice to reach the final, and there's no hiding away from it: To go out on penalties was heartbreaking.
“But I don't look back on it with regret because the Italia 90 World Cup was a positive experience for us as a team, and for England as a nation.
“And I don't look at it as a missed opportunity to play Argentina in the final, and everything that would have come with it. For us, as a country, we have to take pride in what we achieved, not what we missed out on.
“People still talk about that World Cup now as the summer when everyone fell in love – or fell back in love – with football, and it's nice to be remembered that way.
“Without going into too much detail, Germany's goal was a fluke and, in the shoot-out, all four of their penalties were hit like rockets into the corners. That's how it goes.
“Nobody likes to lose a semi-final, but at the end of the day England and shoot-outs simply didn't get on – and in general, we didn't get on for about 30 years.”
Shilton's critics claim he should have reached Andreas Brehme's free-kick, wickedly deflected off Paul Parker, and that he barely sniffed any of the German penalties that night in Turin.
They are less voluble about his brilliant, instinctive save to keep out Jurgen Klinsmann's header in extra time – stunning reflexes for a 40-year-old keeper.
And he is too polite to point out that David Seaman didn't get anywhere near six German spot-kicks when history repeated itself in the Euro 96 semi-finals: another classic where England bowed out in time-honoured fashion.
But the 25.2 million viewers who watched the Titanic v Teutonic derby on TV cling to nostalgic memories of Gazza's garden-sprinkler tears, Shilton's room-mate Gary Lineker firing England's late equaliser, and Chris Waddle's best game in the Three Lions shirt.
England had begun the tournament with a stodgy 1-1 draw against the Republic of Ireland, leading to one Italian newspaper headline scolding: No Football, Please, We're British.
But it ended with vast crowds greeting Bobby Robson's squad on their return home... and as for falling in love with football again, sometimes love was in the air on every street corner at the 1990 World Cup.
In his splendid memoir Extra Time And Penalties, former BBC football correspondent Mike Ingham recalled the colourful post-script late-night retreat from England's heartbreak in Turin to the Beeb's bolthole 100 miles away in Milan.
With Shilton's old rival for England's No.1 jersey, Ray Clemence, at the wheel, and one of radio's great voices, Bryon Butler, dozing in the back, Ingham said: “On the outskirts of Milan there were endless traffic lights and, at every stop, it seemed there was a lady of the night proffering personal services.
“One was particularly persistent and giving the roof of our stationary vehicle an unremitting pounding.
“Ray had been forced to lower his driver's window to prevent it from steaming up and the thumping woke Bryon from his slumber in the back seat, just in time to glimpse the backside of our relentless kerbside vendor being pushed through the open window for closer inspection.
“He opened one eye and observed, 'Well, you could pick up a pimple or two round here' – and nodded off again. He had just seen England flirt with a place in the World Cup final but still managed to deliver a memorable one-liner.”
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