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A competition breaks out

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My post this evening comes from, unsurprisingly, in front of the telly. I'm watching football. Whilst that is not entirely surprising, I have actually had a bit of a struggle with it today. I had an office-day. The horror unfolded as I went into a 90 minute meeting with Argentina leading 1-0 and seemingly coasting to victory. They'd got their goal and were cutting through the Saudis with ease, having one or two [correctly] disallowed for offside. I gave myself the pep-talk - "it's fine Birchy, work is work and this is a foregone conclusion anyway. Watch the highlights and grow up a bit". The rest, as they say is history. I saw the drama unfolding with a couple of phone checks, and returned from the meeting to the barrage of WhatsApps, declaring it a fantastic match, a true spectacle and probably one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. 

I'm fine about it. Really. 

More meetings interrupted the Denmark v Tunisia game - which looked better than the nil-nil score-line suggested so as I rushed home for the Mexico v Poland game I was truly determined to absorb the precious football this Tuesday had denied me. And what a game it was. Atmosphere broke out, with the Mexicans truly bringing it. With Mexico '86 being my first World Cup Panini album and first proper indulgence in the tournament; I've always been fond of them. Again, a really competitive game - which is what I'd been craving at this point yesterday. The draw is both a blessing and a curse for those two teams, as we surely expect the Argies to come back strong, and the Saudi will be bouncing. Its not inconceivable that this point is both teams' last. Lewandowski must feel like Djokovic did when Nadal and Federer were dominant - only without the benefit of winning everything once the other two declined. This is surely his last World Cup and he's yet to hit the net in one. 

So that's 3 well contested games today, to add to Wales and USA last night, which was gripping as well. I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the novelty of realising that Timothy Weah was George's son - the kind of "god I feel old" moment that is now much easier to handle having watched more than a decade of Kasper Schmeichel's career - to the thrill of seeing Bale's equaliser late on, and the blood filled faces of Wales' excellent fans. What that all adds to is an up in tempo for the whole tournament and the promise of meaningful games later on in the group stages.

Footnote - looks like tonight's game is going to re-fill the goals quote for the day! I wonder if France will get past England's total?

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