I ended last week’s post by suggesting that it was now or never for England at a major tournament, that: “If the Three Lions are ever to truly blossom into the top team we all hope they can be, then beating the Germans, even on penalties, feels like an essential step on the way. We […]
On the face of it playing a 24-team finals tournament using 12 different venues spread across a continent in June and July 2020 was always going to be logistically challenging. However, factor in a global pandemic which brought the world as we knew it let alone international travel and football to a halt from which […]
Just like the reported 800 to 1000 British football fans who travel to Dortmund every home game, I couldn’t tell you why or even what I expected, but ever since I witnessed in person the magical allure of the very special fans of “one of Europe’s last great romantic football clubs”, I was already hooked. […]
I approached the start of summer with a sense of trepidation, as is the norm for me in the odd-numbered years, the years without a major tournament in which to completely immerse myself for a month, and to minimise the amount of time spent in the purgatory of having no football to watch. My immediate […]
After a recruitment process lasting all of three weeks, Sam Allardyce was last week confirmed as the latest England manager. Big Sam’s reputation is such that he is seen as something of a specialist in Premier League survival; and as such questions are already being asked about whether he is up to the task of […]
After the heartbreak of England’s penalty defeats to Germany in 1996 and Argentina in 1998, my wife wisely decided to save herself further misery and drew upon her French heritage and the strong Franco-Gooner connections and became a fully-fledged supporter of Les Bleus. As an Arsenal fan myself, and having lived in Marseille, I can […]
Due to my own five-a-side football commitments I only got home in time to watch the last five minutes and then extra time and penalties of the Poland –Portugal match. After an early goal which saw Lewandowski finally get his name on the scoresheet, by all accounts the match was a bit lacking in goalmouth […]
Other than Portugal sneaking a win late in extra time against Croatia, who couldn’t replicate their performance in defeating Spain in the Group, and the two surprising results on Monday, the Round of 16 went largely to form. We now have the four quarter final match-ups over the next four days; here are some thoughts […]
With the start of the knockout phases and three matches per day, the intensity of the tournament went up a notch or two over the weekend, but my wife and I decided that the only way to spend the weekend was by watching all six games. First up was Poland and Switzerland, the game started […]
It was always going to take a combination of team spirit, mental toughness, tenacity and a good dollop of sheer good fortune for Northern Ireland to get anything out of their game against Germany; while the World Champions may not be at quite the same level as they were in Brazil two years ago; they […]
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