Last night I went to the pub and watched Russia lose to Spain in the UEFA EURO semi-final in the pub. I don't usually do football, but enjoy keeping a loose eye on these big European tournaments. I go by the old adage that football is a game for gentleman played by thugs, whereas rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen. Watching the footie nowadays, not a minute goes by without the screech of the referee's whistle and a prima donna rolling around on the grass clutching his leg and moaning. The Italians have turned it into an art form. I don't remember it like that when I was a boy and those burly rugby blokes are certainly a lot more manly in a much rougher game.
Understandably, the locals were backing Spain and so had a good night as Spain gave Russia a 3-0 pasting. So the Spaniards will meet Germany in the final in Vienna on Sunday, and no guessing which way the Poles would like the game to go.
One of the Magnus's is driving to Vienna at the weekend with a couple of pals and invited me along. I can't imagine anything worse. They have no tickets for the game and will no doubt end up sleeping in their car. I told him it will be chaotic to which he replied... "Of course, that's the fun of it!" I must be getting old.
The next championship in four years time will be held jointly in Poland and the Ukraine. A few months back it was celebrations all round when the first 500 metres of the Gdansk-Warsaw A1 super-highway was completed. Less impressive was the fact that it had taken 10 years to achieve this feat of engineering - doesn't fill you with confidence for EURO 2012 does it?
