Magic

Well that was more like it. A World Cup semi final worthy of the name with two teams prepared to have a go.

We took our time getting to the Fan Fest. The English and Croatian fans will all be in Moscow for the game so there’ll be no problem getting in. Nah ah! Place was packed and the streets around were closed off to avoid a crush getting through security.

I tried to take a selfie with one of the heavily armed Russian police. “Niet”, he said. But I put an arm on him anyway and smiled. He laughed! Nice moment. I still didn’t get my selfie.

We finally fought our way through security just as the whistle blew for the start of the game and it seemed appropriate to find our spot for the game in thd shadow of the Saviour of the Blood cathedral. I said a little prayer.

Huge crowds packed around three massive TV screens. Mostly Russians with smatterings of many other nationalities. One or two Croatians and a handful of English

I don’t hate the English. No. Really I don’t. My mother, wife and daughters were all born there and we have many wonderful English friends. I’d even be mildly pleased for the young English team if they did win. They are very good. But i just can’t bare the thought of them winning the Cup. The EBC would be simply intolerable to the rest of the islands. A group of Indians standing with us agreed; “they are far too cocky”. The “Scotlandshire” attitude. Or maybe we should just schedule another independence vote for the week after!

It was a really good game. I do like England’s style going forward. Sterling, so quick, played up top feeding on Kane’s knockdowns. Good free kick from Trippier, albeit from a soft free kick, to take the early lead. But playing at that speed, England were always going to tire eventually. By extra time they were spent. In the end it came down to a Juventus starter against a Man City reserve and a mid table centre back. Manduzic made it count. Excellent striker’s goal.

But England should be proud. That’s a good young team with a good young manager. They’ll learn from this and could be favorites next time. I have four years to prepare!

Really enjoyable game with a great crowd. We wound our way back to the hotel through St Petersburg’s parks and broad avenues. We stopped at an Irish bar for a swift beer and talked football a while with Belgians and Brazilians – its always the Brazilians!!

This far north even at 1am it was still daylight bathing this magical city in a magical glow. I’ll rest well tonight!