19)And we’re off! Once the strange Smurf like characters finished their cavorting on the Munich pitch the 2024 Euros began and a poor Scotland were outclassed by hosts Germany. This immediately encouraged revival of Lineker’s comment about football being a simple game played for 90 minutes and the Germans always win. Many viewers were convinced that Gary’s non political views were still golden and rushed to back Germany at enticing odds due to the vast sums the bookies have taken as patriotic wagers on perennial disasters England.
Will this be the tournament when England finally end the 58 winless years? Surely the Serbians, with their unheralded team would prove the perfect entrée to the feast to come. What followed was stodgy fare made palatable largely due to the remarkable performance of Jude Bellingham. Superlatives and cliches are used freely in modern commentaries on sporting performance. Watching Bellingham play though does invite comparison with the greats from previous generations of footballers. Perhaps because he is now playing for Real Madrid I am reminded of two players in particular: ‘the Blond Arrow’ Alfredo di Stefano, a childhood hero, and Zinedine Zidane. Bellingham shares with them not only sublime skill and technique but also a presence on the pitch which dwarfs opponents and impresses those watching that he will win the match, even when it appears unlikely. Yes, for those of us who were around and reading comics back in the 1960s, then he is a modern day, real life Gorgeous Gus or Roy Race.
So, of course, JUDE BELLINGHAM ,scored England’s first goal of the 2024 Euros competition and, to paraphrase words from the song ‘he took a sad match and made it better’.
18)The saltire waving Tartan Army have been fighting on two fronts this last month. On cricket fields in the Americas, Scotland performed well above expectation. Rain perhaps saved England after Scotland had scored 90 off ten overs without losing a wicket. Then they thrashed Oman and Namibia. Australia beat them with only three balls to spare. How unlucky were Scotland NOT to qualify for the final stages!
Sadly, Scotland performed well below most quizzer expectation on the football fields of Germany. Unlucky they were to be chosen to face the host nation on opening night. The Scottish defence froze and let in five goals. They got their ONE point in a draw against Switzerland. The slim hopes of qualifying were crushed by a late winning goal by Hungary. Just one statistic to illustrate a woeful tournament; the Scots had a total of three shots on target over the three games. The last touch for both their goals came from an opposition player. If you thought England’s games were poor! The Sottish fans, relishing every moment of a rare tournament outing, deserved better.
17)The World T20 saw INDIA finally end 13 years of frustration in major cricket tournaments. They were the favourites from the outset, the dominant team throughout their unbeaten campaign and crucially handled the pressure and expectation well this time to overcome South Africa in a dramatic final. On so many occasions during the past decade India have looked the most likely winners of World Cups but somehow found a way to falter in either the semis or the final itself. This time they breezed through both group stages comfortably – only arch-rivals Pakistan really pushing them in a close finish at a packed-out New York. Batting first increasingly became their forte as the tournament got towards the business end, posting 170+ scores in each of their last 5 games. This then allowed the supreme skills of their bowling attack to come to the fore, notably Jasprit Bumrah – a totally unique bowler who has mastered the art of both miserly economy rate and wicket-taking in all situations. The final epitomised this: South Africa only needed 30 runs off 30 balls to win, with several wickets in hand. This is the sort of batting situation that any successful T20 side around the world would back themselves to win 95 times out of 100. Bumrah’s sublime 18th over of the innings helped to turn the game on its head. He was backed up superbly this time by Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, along with some fine fielding, to leave South Africa 7 agonising runs short.
The tournament had seen several big plusses for the global game. The scheduling during the rainy season of Florida and the Caribbean was far from ideal at times but the return of the West Indies to the latter stages of international competition was a major positive. The growth of the sport in the USA also played a huge part in its success. This was most notable through their dramatic super-over triumph against Pakistan in the initial group stage. Then there was the continued progress of Afghanistan – their win over Australia not only helped to knock out one of the favourites but secured them the first semi-final in their history. It was a shame that they were thumped by South Africa on a poor pitch to bring their campaign to an end. The pitches were certainly a stark contrast to the regular 250+ scores on flat decks that you would be accustomed to if you watched the recent IPL but the close low-scoring games prevalent here were often engrossing to watch.
While India celebrated, it was a very different mood for defending champions England who continued their white-ball struggles over the past 12 months. This tournament was at least an improvement on their woeful 50-over campaign last autumn but only one win in four against the major nations proved that all is still not right following their period of dominance between 2019-2022. They laboured through the initial group stage and were grateful for Australia overcoming a spirited Scottish performance to avoid a very early exit. The batting started to click against the West Indies in the Super 8 stage where Phil Salt’s rapid 87 not out spearheaded their best performance of the tournament. Harry Brook’s 53 so nearly snatched a win against South Africa, while Jos Buttler’s 83 not out made light work of the USA. When it really mattered though in the semi-final against India, they were comprehensively blown away. Just THREE fifties in 8 games reflected an underwhelming time in the Caribbean and US that will surely see a changing of the guard in the months ahead.
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