1966 And All That

I've got beer and defibrillators on standby as Roy's boys go into the final group match tonight, against Ukraine in Donetsk. A draw would be enough, but I have a funny feeling they're going to make us sweat again. Why do I think that? Oh, just the minor precedent of freak free-kicks and penalty heartbreak (1990), agonising point-blank misses and further penalty heartbreak (1996), disallowed goals, red cards and even more penalty heartbreak (1998), taking a commanding lead only to go and blow it (2000 and 2002), conceding needless spot-kicks in stoppage time (2000 and 2004), so much penalty heartbreak my heart can't stand it anymore (2006), and generally just being a bit wank (1991-1995, 2007-2011).

So, never a dull moment.