Waiting

Finally, after the interminable eleven days when we had no football and had to settle for watching Andy Murray lose again to Novak Djokovic, we’re almost here. Three games a day for the next two weeks may seem excessive to some but there’s over an hour between games for basic hygiene and nourishment needs. And who, if they’re honest, hasn’t dreamed of the chance to watch the best eleven footballers in Hungary take on the best eleven (or possibly only eleven) footballers in Iceland?
I must say that when UEFA decided on a twenty-four team format for these Euros, I was sceptical. It just seemed like a money making exercise and I was shocked, as I think we all were, that a football executive could possibly be involved in such a crude attempt to wring more cash out of a major tournament. But the qualifiers were far more interesting than they’ve ever been in the past and some unfamiliar teams have made the finals (Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland). And most importantly, there are twenty more games to watch.
At Camp England, the players seem to be taking turns to talk to the media. I guess it’s like penalties. For the first five days the player will volunteer for media duties and will stride purposefully forward to the press conference but later on, they’ll look like they’d rather stick needles in their eyes. Yesterday, it was Chris Smalling making the case for the defence. You never know how things might work out (Arsenal once went on a ten match run in the Champions League without conceding a goal with Mathieu Flamini at left back) but can anyone honestly say they’re filled with confidence at the thought of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill (or John Stones) lining up against Antoine Griezsman or Alvaro Morata or Gareth Bale? Even writing that gives me the chills.
I guess these things go in cycles. Ten years ago in Germany, our four centre backs were John Terry and Rio Ferdinand (probably wouldn’t happen now), Jamie Carragher and Sol Campbell but our attacking line up contained amongst others Stewart Downing, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas and Peter Crouch.
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Chris Smalling speak before and I was surprised how thin and reedy his voice was. I’d expect that from a winger but not from a 6ft 3” centre half. It didn’t fill me with confidence. He said that English defenders were tactically aware which contradicted what I’ve been hearing all season which is that players in England don’t know how to defend anymore. I guess we’re about to find out.
The other player to have a chat was young Marcus Rashford. I think there’s now some sort of bylaw which states that Rashford cannot be mentioned without also referring to the fact that he’s young. “Young Rashford!” Like Young Winston only Marcus probably won’t go on to be Britain’s wartime Prime Minister. But then could Winston Churchill bend his runs to stay onside? Anyway, Marcus, the youngest player at Euro 2016 (born October 31 1997 - after Tony Blair was elected!) said that it feels like a dream being in France. And that makes sense because the last time he stood up to speak in front of an audience, it was probably a school assembly. But a series of unfortunate injuries to team mates has seen him given the chance and he’s grabbed it with both of his incredibly youthful hands.
So here we are. We’re almost ready to begin. I know all the cliches about stocking up on beer in the fridge but I’m confident that the supermarkets have seen this event coming for some time and have stocked up for me. I’ll go and get some when I run out. Or I might send my eldest child. There isn’t much time between the end of one game and the beginning of the next.