Two unusual things happened yesterday. Firstly, I went round to a friend’s house to watch the football. And, you may have heard, England beat Sweden to progress to the semi-finals of the World Cup. From my decidedly inexpert point of view, it seemed a well-played game by both sides and, even after the second goal, there was a certain tension waiting for the boys in the red shirts to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. However, England played the better match overall and it was a deserving even if not entirely expected result when the final whistle went and they ended as the winners.

I’m not expecting to watch forthcoming game against Croatia but, if you were clutching at totemic hopes, this probably won’t affect the outcome. I didn’t watch any of their previous victories either and, truth be told, the game was background to the socialising thanks to the wonderful modern ability to stick live TV on pause. Just as well we weren’t near any pubs though as I think that would have given us an indication of the result as it happened rather than an hour later!