Met up with a couple of mates, Sukh and Harj that I play football with to watch the England vs Ukraine game at the London Metropole Hotel in Paddington.
It's quite a plush place and with that goes the price of a pint at around a fiver a go, but even that does not deter the crowds as they have a large projector screen and plenty of smaller ones scattered around the place...
I turned up earlier than the other two and whilst waiting to get served, I struck up a small insignificant conversation with a bloke about football, posh bars and London life. It was no more than a few minutes to pass both his and my time...
His partner (that's a guess more than anything else) was at the bar and we swapped no more than a word or two when she asked me what I wanted. Slightly surprised, but very gratefully I asked for a pint of Stella and told her "hold on, my other 15 friends have turned up, they'll have the same" :-)
Sukh and Harj actually turned up a few minutes later and we all dispersed around the room. I did go back to ask them if they wanted a drink, but by that time she said they were done - very sweet and a nice way to start cheering for England...
I guess the football finished with more of a satisfactory shrug than an over joyous rapture, but it’s too early to get excited, especially when the beer is still flowing around the bloodstream.
And that's one thing I don't want; too much excitement. We've done ok so far, now it's the next step - no more, no less, Play tight, play hard, nick a goal and button down. That's what generally wins tournaments...
As we were in Edgware Road, we decided to pop along to the Beirut Express - been there a couple of time and always do a mean falafel wrap that goes down well after a few pints of Stella...:-)
It's quite a plush place and with that goes the price of a pint at around a fiver a go, but even that does not deter the crowds as they have a large projector screen and plenty of smaller ones scattered around the place...
I turned up earlier than the other two and whilst waiting to get served, I struck up a small insignificant conversation with a bloke about football, posh bars and London life. It was no more than a few minutes to pass both his and my time...
His partner (that's a guess more than anything else) was at the bar and we swapped no more than a word or two when she asked me what I wanted. Slightly surprised, but very gratefully I asked for a pint of Stella and told her "hold on, my other 15 friends have turned up, they'll have the same" :-)
Sukh and Harj actually turned up a few minutes later and we all dispersed around the room. I did go back to ask them if they wanted a drink, but by that time she said they were done - very sweet and a nice way to start cheering for England...
As far as the football is concerned I've only got an overall view and that's the goal decision was absolutely
pathetic – I felt a bit “cheated” really. I want to see a good game and us
going through on merit and not because the blind B*
can’t do his job…
Overall, I thought we got lucky with the
result, looked sloppy for large parts of the game, lacked the discipline to
hold a good defensive and midfield line, offered no options for the wing-backs or wingers
and near enough every other ball was a long punt “somewhere” – apart from that
we were ok…
And they laughed at Rooney for his
hair transplant without which he would not have cushioned that header into the
goal…
I guess the football finished with more of a satisfactory shrug than an over joyous rapture, but it’s too early to get excited, especially when the beer is still flowing around the bloodstream.
And that's one thing I don't want; too much excitement. We've done ok so far, now it's the next step - no more, no less, Play tight, play hard, nick a goal and button down. That's what generally wins tournaments...
As we were in Edgware Road, we decided to pop along to the Beirut Express - been there a couple of time and always do a mean falafel wrap that goes down well after a few pints of Stella...:-)
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