Prepare to deploy the fat lady

So. Get up to anything interesting last night? Nah. Me neither. Quiet one.

I did have good fun with the Columbia game, moving seamlessly in a perfectly timed fashion (unlike England’s midfield) from a signal-less void on the train just in time to hear their corking second goal. Gervinhio managed to pull one back for Ivory Coast and that too was top dollar.

Talking of timing. I have done it again (the segue as well as the clock thing). Dinner with friends in a fancy restaurant at 7.30pm. When will I learn? Still I thought I could give my new Honduras shirt an airing….It’s quite smart and I am sure will fit in with the general ambiance. It’s white, so I will not be taking a leaf out of the Chile sartorial elegance handbook and deploying any form of blue undergarment.

I do remain a little confused about the concept of atmosphere. Wednesday the commentators hoped we could hear the atmosphere and yesterday they were talking about how it looked. Is either possible? Especially when the former was said on TV and the latter radio. Sorry probably being too fussy. Because for some reason I’m in a bad mood.

I’ll be honest. Forget some Waddle-esque rant (always nice from the man who ballooned a penalty over the crossbar in a World Cup Semi-Final). I think our problem is not the number of foreigners in the Prem. It’s our anthem. We go straight into the lyrics. Uruguay, “dangerous over achievers from a country the size of greater London”, (copyright Clive Tyldsley), have this rousing orchestral tootle before any words. To the point in fact, where I thought everyone had forgotten to sing. We need a nice long booming intro. Probably wouldn’t make us world beaters but might be more rousing.

It is quite frightening how quickly the gaps in the wall chart are filling up. By the end of the weekend we will be gearing up for the final group games – time flies when you’re having a (foot)ball. With some of the games the only thing that will be at stake will be a bit of pride (e.g. Spain) for others there will be a bit more of an imperative. But before we get there nine more games to negotiate. Including Algeria’s second match whose coach, according to the Grauniad guide, once shot himself in the bottom. No clues as to why or indeed how. One to ponder.

Despairing slightly of Mr TLF today, as he blots his copybook after yesterday’s excellent blog contribution with the question, “So teams have to stay for the last group game even if they can’t qualify?” My work here is clearly far from done.

I’m tempted to get next week off to a really bad start by staying up for the USA v Portugal game late on Sunday night….in the hope of an upset…which would tend to lead to a complete non-upset. In between the games I will be involved in my own high pressure tournament, TLF v the Dandelions, which is being played over numerous legs. Currently I have the edge, having deployed a sharp front two (of the pronged variety), but I do seem to be outnumbered all over the park (lawn) so I’m looking to manage expectations.

Whatever your weekend plans; I hope you enjoy. I can guarantee you’ll have a better time than the residents of Rio’s Royal Tulip Hotel.

They think it’s all over..it probably will be soon. But thanks to Roy Hodgson for looking as miserable as the rest of us.
La volpe ha perso (as they say on the dolce vita…which ain’t where I am right now)

Phrase of the day – Spanish
Usted no esta cuntando ya
You’re not singing anymore

An occasional feature – tweet of the day comes from David Clarke, St Albans fan and captain of the 2012 team GB Paralympic blind football team @ClarkieGB7:
“Now we must listen to ex footballers who failed at WCs tell us what #Eng should’ve done to stop themselves failing at WC” Bang on.

Website of the day…well link and audio clip. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not the biggest fan of the ankle-biters. But even I am entranced by the R5Live Young Pundits – endearing and just as coherent as our professional pundits (I might be doing the kids a disservice there) This will take you to yesterday’s but if you scroll through the R5 ‘In shorts’ you’ll find more. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0217lhp

Receipe of the day – Honduras. Not meaty…unlike their tackles
http://thisishonduras.com/Honduran-Food-Recipies.html#baleadas

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Columbia 2 Ivory Coast 1
Uruguay 2 England 1
Japan 0 Greece 0

TODAY’S GAMES
5pm Italy v Costa Rica, Grp D
8pm Switzerland v France, Grp E
11pm Honduras v Ecuador, Grp E

WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday
5pm Argentina v Iran, Grp F
8pm Germany v Ghana, Grp G
11pm Nigeria v Bosnia, Grp F
Sunday
5pm Belgium v Russia, Grp H
8pm South Korea v Algeria, Grp H
11pm USA v Portugal, Grp G