Susannah, I felt the same way as you did about Rashford’s failure to convert. I don’t know of any football player I admire more as a human being than Rashford.
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Agreed, That free kick was excellent - just inches over the bar - on another day he would have been everybody’s hero. Good to know he’s still ours.
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Sorry, but that’s not 'supporting(, it’s just ‘watching’
Supporting has nothing to do with fair play - it’s far more irrational!
Sorry Geof, don’t often feel the need to correct you but it’s surely over half a century, regardless of whom was in power and who owned which tabloids
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Lastly, France are a world class team with a long history of winning the most important games, whereas England aspire to that. England have some great players, but they’re not a ‘great’ team. Maybe a more realistic comparison is with Portugual, another even older imperial country that despite the efforts of CR7, has declined into international insignificance.
Also no one’s previously mentioned that France were without Benzema, current Ballon d’or holder and one of the best strikers of all time,and someone else whom the NY Time amusingly describes as ‘Mr Pogba’ and lastly, N’golo Kante - three world class players.
Allez les bleus !
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Sometimes I get the impression that England think they are entitled to win because of who they are and where they come from. Its just something that strikes me every competition and is probably just my imagination, maybe its a “british empire characteristic” and we are invincible thing!
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Right then. Adieu England and let’s look forward!
Tuesday may be the last chance to watch Lionel Messi playing an important match with his beloved Argentina. Another choreographed ballet well worth watching. I shall be. And I will enjoy every move, even though I have no idea what they are named.
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whoops…
One word…twat!
On TF1 the French commentators were genuinely complementary about the England team and their capabilities. No hint of the French being invincible. But they had a realistic hope that les Bleus would be the victors. Allez les bleus !!
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Yes that’s why we watched the game on TF1 instead of on British TV. Even Gary Linekar was tweeting during the game how biased the ref was, always favouring the French, blah blah blah.
It’s never enough for them to say the team played well but didn’t win… It always has to be someone else’s fault.
TF1 showed you can be patriotic without needing to resort to being derogatory about the other team or claiming unsportsmanlike behaviour or saying the ref is on the other team’s side.
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Unfortunately I could not access TF1, for some reason every evening french TV disappears completely even after being on during the day so I had to watch via Expat TV on ITV and all the commentators did was bitch about the ref as if the english were entitled to victory regardless. I like the two french commentators, they have been on there for a long time now and don’t insult the other teams.
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Spectators at the World Cup’s opening match, between Qatar and Ecuador, in Al Bayt Stadium. By Max Pinkers for NYT
Says it all, really
Even when they’re seated alongside one another, the woman is still behind the man!
What strikes me, apart from all the empty seats around them, is their unbridled joy 
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Maybe amongst the Quatari haute bourgeoisie visible expressions of enthusiasm are considered vulgar and proletarian. Perhaps this couple could actually be very politely really enjoying the match 
OTOH maybe he’s just p*****d off about having to dress up like that and she’s thinking about all his washing and ironing. Why in thoxe countries do men wear white, but women have to dress in black? Was that in the Koran?
Here we go -not!