I don’t think this occasional diary is going to last very long. It would be a bit fun, I decided, to jot down my occasional thoughts, but as they days have gone by I have little to add to the pictures from Qatar. The football has been mainly very good, despite the location. The World Cup shouldn’t in Qatar, it shouldn’t be played in Qatar; football, despite everything, is the beautiful game.
If you were to observe social media, you’d have thought England’s draw with the USA was the lowest point in our sporting history. After all, WE ARE ENGLAND and all we have to do is turn up. How dare the USA, a muscular, athletic, skilful and wonderfully well-coached team, have the temerity to more than match us. Southgate out. Bring back Sam Allardyce. Well, not quite, but you the drift. The fact that Argentina, Germany and now Belgium have flopped against inferior opposition. But how inferior? Japan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco are good teams with good players and coaches. These results weren’t flukes, you know.
I’m afraid I was pleased to see Wales defeated by Iran. Kieffer Moore and Sorba Thomas, both Englishmen playing for Wales, upped the ante by looking forward to England’s demise. I have nothing against footballers who aren’t good enough to play for their own countries playing for another, if their ancestry allows it, but don’t expect me to wish them well when they diss the league that made them. Our final group game will doubtless be a feisty affair. I wish Wales nothing but…no, let’s leave it there. Just nothing.
I think we’ll leave it here, unless I change my mind.
