Well - that was a nice way to spend two hours. England deservedly beat Wales by three goals to nil at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.in Qatar. It was our last game in the group stage of The World Cup and now we have qualified for the second stage along with fifteen other teams. One of them will be The USA who beat Iran by one goal to nil at the very same time that we were beating Wales.
Our lads looked really good tonight. After a patient first half, there was some zippy, creative football in the second half with two goals from Marcus Rashford and one from Phil Foden. They are both Manchester lads but there were also four Yorkshire-born players in the team - Walker, Stones, Maguire and Phillips.
Compared with England, Wales is a small country with a population of only 3.1 million whereas England has a population of 56 million if you don't count the boat loads of asylum seekers and economic migrants who have come to join us this year. In Wales, rugby is a very popular sport and in some schools it still takes precedence over football.
I feel no animosity whatsoever towards the Welsh. They have a proud history, an ancient language, great singers and writers and when it comes to sport they are very passionate about their nation. It is also a land of hard work and natural beauty - the homeland of three of my personal heroes - the poet Dylan Thomas and Aneurin Bevan - the architect of The National Health Service - plus the famous blogger and hospice nurse John Gray.
Trouble was that though Wales players may have the hearts of dragons, their skills generally fall far short of the talents that England's manager can call upon. Wales now bow out of the tournament but not in disgrace. They did their best and you cannot ask for more than that. Meanwhile, England go on to play Senegal in the Round of 16.
Finally, you may be wondering who the hell Ahmad bin Ali was. He was the fifth ruler of Qatar - between 1960 and 1972. "He was noted for his solemnity, wisdom and careful discretion in tackling issues". Oh yeah? That's him below:-
Allez, les Lions!
ReplyDeleteOoo-la-la cherie!
DeleteI've been to Senegal twice and have friends there, so I'll be rooting for them. :)
DeleteAnd they say Queen Victoria always looked like a sourpuss.
ReplyDeleteHer corset was too tight.
DeleteCongrats to you, and congrats to U.S.
ReplyDeleteBoth through!
DeleteTo me, he looks sad more than anything.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough job being a ruler - all those camels and a harem to keep up.
DeleteImagine if all the games were a draw...does every team get a cup then?
ReplyDeleteThere's always a way - in the end they would take penalties
DeleteCan't think of the last time I watched any SOCCER, but I did hear about the U.S. win on last night's evening news. I wonder if there might be a U.S./England SOCCER match in the near future?
ReplyDeleteFor SOCCER insert football... genuine football. We played the USA this month at the group sage and drew 0-0. England were off colour that day.
DeletePhil Foden has a strange haircut.
ReplyDeleteIf my hair was like that, I would look even more like a fool.
DeleteA very easy group to win. Now it's time to play the full strength team on Sunday. Substitutes should be for injuries not for tactical adjustments on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteI think we need either Foden or Grealish or both on the pitch from the start. I also think that some performance enhancing drugs might be a good idea.
Delete*I feel no animosity whatsoever towards the Welsh.*
ReplyDeleteTweak that sentence and it could be the first line in a Harold Pinter play.
*I got no animosity for the Welsh. Whatsoever.*
Pinter's East End Londoner would then describe his one and only visit to Swansea.
*It was raining. Pissing down it was. Went into this caff before the pubs opened.
Had a cuppa and a bit of this currant cake. Bara Brith they call it. Bloke in the caff was queer. Imagine. A Welsh queer. And it was pissing down, I tell you.*
There are Irish pubs in London but there are no Welsh pubs.
I hear Pinter's character saying, *Funny, that.*
There might be a few Welsh chapels in London instead.
DeleteThere is a Welsh Baptist Church, tucked away near Oxford Circus.
DeleteA handsome building. I would like to go to a service there.
There is Westminster Church where Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached.
An anthology of new Welsh writers appeared in paperback.
The introduction stated that there were no Welsh pubs in London.
I am looking at a book by Caradoc Evans, My People.
Fifteen stories, a slim little volume. Published 1915, this edition 1953.
Caradoc Evans was born in South Cardiganshire in 1878 and was described as the best-hated man in Wales.
Enjoy the tournament, I hope a more inclusive venue is picked for the next time.
ReplyDeleteQatar should never have been picked. Something very dodgy happened there.
DeleteI was out celebrating my birthday last night. There were only 4 tables occupied for the entire evening in a restaurant which has about 20 tables. No medals for guessing there was a big match on. As we left the owner thanked us for keeping his business going.
ReplyDeleteThis made me titter
ReplyDelete