Some Distraction Required

Writing a blog about Euro 2016 today feels a little pointless. Firstly, there are no games. Secondly, who wants to read a (hopefully) amusing piece about the only European thing we’re still in? And then I thought fuck it. These bastards have lied and lied in order to get people to vote to “get their country back” and the likely outcome is that one old Etonian will hand over power to another old Etonian. Surely we all need something to take our mind off the news.
So as we all know, there’s a major football tournament taking place in (soon to be more difficult to get into) France. And our teams are doing quite well. And when I say our teams, I include Ireland in that even though I know they’re not a “home” country. But seriously, right now, who cares about any of that? I might not have been singing The Fields of Athenry on Wednesday night but I still found some joy in their victory over the Italians and I’ll be cheering them on against the French. Mainly because England would have a better chance of beating them in the quarter final.
Not that I’m in any way ignoring Iceland. I’ve loved watching Iceland in this tournament and they’re no pushovers. They look indomitable. They beat Holland home and away in the qualifiers and they will present a formidable challenge on monday evening. They’re obdurate, together and they love their underdog status. Whereas we’re England with our football history and our Premier League “superstars”. They’ve got nothing to lose.
But, if we don’t beat them, I imagine the reception back at Luton airport will not be a welcoming one. (Personally, I’d make them land at the furthest gate from the terminal building and then only open one booth on passport control.) Let’s face it, after the disaster of last night (I know some of you may feel differently but it’s my opinion), I think it’s even more crucial that the England team put on a performance and cheer us all up.
All was sweetness and light at the England training camp yesterday as the team tried to shine the best possible light on us being in the most challenging part of the draw. It was all “we’ll just take each game as it comes” and “every game is hard at this stage of the competition”. And I accept that. On the other hand, I’d rather have to play, for example Northern Ireland, Belgium and Croatia to get to the final than Iceland, France and Italy. But here we are.
Anyway, there’s only one more day of this interminable waiting before we get back to some proper football. In the meantime, we can all contemplate the prospect of having to queue up for visas at the Spanish embassy and the thought of Boris Johnson as our next Prime Minister. Until tomorrow.