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One bar of 4G

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 I'm back, within close proximity of World Cup telly. For a while (after discovering a remote cidery), there was a chance that I'd miss more of this tournament - but after an unexpected sleep in a field, my camp trip has finished without further incident. The footy gods seemingly smiled upon me, as the one bar of 4G reception, whilst often unable to load a web page, did somehow manage to give me solid BBC sounds audio. And with that, I have largely kept in touch with proceedings. 

The biggest challenge has been sleep to be honest. Last night, in a cider-induced fever dream, I managed to take in the first half of Morocco v Brazil, which then spliced itself together with the second half of Scotland v Haiti - which was weird. What was more weird was that in between , I had a dream about Tyrone Mings, on horseback, making a rash challenge that managed to destroy both his own knees and the horses existence. But this is something I should speak to a therapist about, rather than leave, forever retrievable, on the internet. So, what's been occurring? Bullet point time:

  • In the early hours of Saturday, The USA smashed Paraguay (who are apparently a bit weak and dull). A cracking result, and surely only good for the tournament. With Poch in charge, you never know. I look forward to seeing them live. 
  • Qatar grabbed a last gasp equaliser vs Switzerland in a game they were pummeled in for 95 of the 96 minutes. Our first shock?
  • Brazil and Morocco was the first 'proper' game, and the fact it ended even keeps things interesting in the group, especially in light of....
  • ...Super John McGinn!!
  • And to round things off, Australia got an excellent win vs Turkey (who typically are either awesome or terrible). By the looks, it was a well earned lead and then a smash and grab second, with Turkey having more to offer than the result showed. 
So some pretty good fayre whilst I have been away, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to getting back on it with the Germany game in a short while. It reminds me, I must learn something about Curacao; where it is, whether they have been a country for long, or if that is the result of something political I should know more about - and whether it is the source country of the vivid coloured cocktails I used to drink 30 years ago. I will share whatever I learn. 

And later tonight, a genuinely exciting matchup, with Netherlands v Japan. Somehow two teams that are potentially in the top ten favourites for the tournament match up. Looking forward to that. Hope you've all had good weekends :)

 

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