Here we go

I'm running around today trying to get things done before five. I don’t want to miss either of the games. First up is Italy against Spain. It’s a bit ridiculous that these two footballing giants are meeting in the second round but these are the anomalies you get when there are twenty-four teams. Italy in particular can feel a bit aggrieved to have won a difficult group and then get drawn against Spain in the first knock out game. Belgium finished below them and ended up spanking Hungary 4-0 last night.
Even with their slightly dubious style of defending, I’ve got a lot of admiration for the Italians. Firstly, they have my favourite national anthem. It’s a great tune and is as unlike the dirge like British national anthem as it’s possible to be. I like watching them singing it. Also, they know how to get a result. I said before their group game against Belgium that it was instructive to watch as the camera panned along the line of players. The Italians looked massively experienced and totally ready. They will take some stopping.
The same could be said for Spain. They are of course the double European Champions and they also won the World Cup in 2010. The team is packed with brilliant footballers and they have Andres Iniesta, a player I believe is as good in his position as anyone ever has been. What a nightmare he must be to play against. Up to this point, I haven’t gone in for predictions in these blogs and I’m not about to start with a game like this. But it will be tight.
And then after the hors d’oeuvres, we have, for the people of England and Iceland the main course. England are massive favourites for this game and that’s only right and proper. Aside from Gylfi Sigurdsson, no-one I know had heard of a single one of their first eleven. That doesn’t mean they’re not good players (Arsenal just spent thirty-million quid on a player I was only vaguely aware of) but it does mean that man for man, we’re better than they are. But there’s no doubt that Iceland are a tight knit group and they’ll have the vociferous backing of one in every twenty-two people from Iceland who will actually be at the game.
I think this match could be incredibly tight. I can’t imagine Iceland doing a huge amount of attacking and if the last three games have shown us anything, it’s that England have difficulty in breaking down packed defences. If England score early, I think they’ll win by two or three. But if it’s still level after seventy-five minutes, we could be looking at penalties. And if that happens, may God have mercy on our souls.