Wot, says Mr Chad, -- no thread on the World Cup yet?

Well, then, inevitably, here goes.

To kick off [geddit?]: what the hell happened to Rooney last night? Couldn't do a thing right, poor guy. Missed a sitter, and two or three other quite easy shots; selfishly robbed Hailey of the ball without a by-your-leave when he was on a good run near goal and then missed with his own shot; kicked a corner straight off for a goal-kick, which nobody ever does except 11-year-old schoolboys ... I could go on. Pathetic performance. I repeat, what the hell happened to him?

a BTW: watching Greece lose to Colombia in the World Cup last night, I remarked to Emma that at least the Greeks would be sure to be philosophical in defeat -- esp as they had a player called Sokrates.

And,another BTW, going back many many years to my teaching days: I have happy memories of a mental image raised by an essay written by a boy in praise of his hero Bobby Charlton, who had done so much to help England win that sacred World Cup all those years ago. "Bobby Charlton has a brother Jack," he added at one point, " who also played for England in the WC."

Way to go...

~M~