Come on England

…or if England fail, I have decided to adopt Argentina.

Jono and Big G had just arrived at my flat. We were having a beer in the sitting room. I muttered a “sorry, but I have to do this” and turned the tv on. G smiled and settled in more comfortably, pleased that he hadn’t had to ask. It was Saturday at 17.00 and time for the Germany-Sweden match, the first game of the second stage.

We drank our beers, watched the match and talked football for a little while before heading off to the Old Town. We walked by the giant screen on the square, but had no interest in standing in a crowd of sweaty Germans to watch the rest of the match. We instead sat sipping sekt on a roof-top terrace, where we could remain aloof from the crowd but still hear their buzz.

Sekt having been sipped, we made our way to Chez Marcel for dinner. The traditional French brasserie had been transformed into a bar de sport français. So there we were – 2 limeys and a yank in the Czech Republic, in a French place run by Algerian Berbers, watching Argentina and Mexico play football in Germany on French tv.

I was 100% behind Argentina, especially as I have 4 of their players on my fantasy team. A couple of Argentinians had come into the bar wearing their country’s football colours and it seemed that everyone in the bar was supporting Argentina. The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes so the game went into overtime. Maxi Rodriguez’s winning goal at 98 minutes was stunningly beautiful. Argentina were through, and I had got points for my fantasy team.

G was dazzled by my knowledge of the Beautiful Game, but mostly because he is a chauvinist and doesn’t think girls (or Americans) can know about football. At any rate, he has promised to take me to an Arsenal match back in London. Hooray!

On Sunday we watched the England-Ecuador match in the beer garden at Riegrovy sady. England’s win, which was not pretty, means that I will get to see England play when I am in Germany next Saturday. I’ll be watching the match on a giant tv outdoors somewhere rather than in the stadium in Gelsenkirchen, but it’s all very exciting nonetheless.

Come on England!