It’s coming…🤐

Happy July 13th to those who celebrate

Here’s Terry Venables & Bobby Robson talking about Gareth Southgate’s penalty miss at Euro ‘96. I’m sure both these great footballing men would be delighted to see the current England manager so close to glory again. Go get that trophy, Gareth. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Jude is sipping what I suspect is a pre-match Red Bull but I’m going to pretend it’s a Peroni.

Alexi putting things in perspective 😂

Since May 2001, Spanish teams have played in 27 major finals (Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, Euros). There has been a Spanish winner in all 27 finals.

L’Inghilterra è la Fiorentina del calcio internazionale. England are the Fiorentina of international football. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🤝💜

Faced suddenly with an extra half-hour of airtime to fill, Fox Sports anchor Rob Stone does what he does best: divert the conversation back to his favourite (only?) subject, Lionel Messi. Even Clint Dempsey has had enough…

“Neither the goals nor the final itself, what I’ll always remember is the joy on people’s faces.” 🇦🇷 Happy 70th Mario Kempes, seen here after scoring his sixth goal of the 1978 World Cup. He was only 23, but incredibly he never scored for Argentina again.

There was an article in the Guardian today breaking down this moment and the minutes that followed. After Palmer’s goal the momentum was with England but we immediately invited Spain to retake control and within minutes we were 2-1 down.

It’s the 30th anniversary of Barry Davies’ one and only World Cup Final commentary. And like a true master at work, here he doesn’t disappoint with his opening lines. 🇺🇸 It was quite ridiculous that the BBC didn’t give the great man any more.🎙️

I wasn’t in Pasadena on July 17th 1994, but I do have an unused ticket from the World Cup Final that was held that afternoon at the Rose Bowl. The original owner not only missed an historic match but also a pre-game show by Whitney Houston.

I don’t understand why people put their sunglasses on backwards like this (instead of putting them on top of their head, which seems more natural to me). It looks so awkward and surely they could fall off behind you at any moment…

Why do so many English-speaking people/social media accounts say “AS Roma”? People used to say “AC Milan” to distinguish from “Inter Milan” (an anglicism), but nobody ever says “SS Lazio” or “UC Sampdoria.” So in the context of football teams why doesn’t “Roma” suffice?

I just popped to the IGA and wine shop and in both stores an employee said to me, “I like your shirt.” This was the shirt:

Just finished this. A very fast read (I only started it the other day). Turns out the recent Netflix series adhered more closely to the novel than the 1999 movie did. Now I need to see “Plein Soleil” with Alain Delon. Does anybody know if it’s streaming anywhere?

🇮🇹 Me and Franco on Fifth ☺️

The most wholesome thing about these Olympics is the positive message they’ve sent to kids with less than perfect eyesight.

But do we really need another sibling rivalry-themed nineties reboot?

One of my favourite singles of the nineties.