The Three Dads World Cup Wonderland

So, another tournament passes, and Germany are the winners. That's four times now, making England's paltry effort in '66 look like a fluke, an aberration. This tourney was a joy though. Goals galore, kamikaze football and defences that only discovered themselves from the QF and beyond (except for Brazil). The final was entertaining and I am glad not settled by penalties. There was not too much simulation, and no great signs of fan violence either - so hats off to the hosts and the fans. (Definitely an argument for hosting the tournament out of reach of discount flight operators). So many highlights but my favourite bits, in no kind of order, were: -Excellent world time-zones allowing full viewing  -the bite (just bizarre) -Van Persie's header  -dancing around like a maniac celebrating Sterling's goal v Italy, only to be told it was snagged in side-netting -Neymar and Messi being pivotal to their teams -Spain getting a lesson in football -Awesome stadia -The Mexican ...

So another World Cup is coming to a close, and while recriminations, inquests and debriefs will continue - the distraction will stop and life goes on. Sometimes, almost guaranteed, that means dealing with heartbreak along the way. I for one hope Mr and Mrs Birchy have had their share and, the future has in store many more good times to balance out the tough. Wishing you both strength at this tough time. There's no great segue to get us back to the footie, but I talked about distraction and here is my distracting run down on all things Brazil, team by team, with omissions of those that didn't leave an impression :  Africa: Algeria weren't bad at all. Great game v Sth Korea and gave the Germans a run for their money. The rest made the squabbles for win bonuses the height of irony... Asia: Sth  Korea: pelted with toffees upon arrival home. Need I say more. I've forgotten what Japan did United States of Australia: plucky effort team, sum of parts blah blah..., could run all...