I was expecting the semi-final to be shown on both channels, this has always been the case in the past (well on the 3 occasions that I can recall), ITV coverage is awful compared to the BBC, and always has been, Lineker is no Des Lynam, but he has improved. I can only assume that because ITV always lose out massively if it is on both sides, I think the BBC share was about 80% for the Croatia semi, they insisted this time that they got sole rights for it.
One thing that did have me facepalm about ITV's commentary for the Czechs/Denmark match Ally McCoist initiated a conversation with Clive Tyldsley about Thomas Delaney's decidedly unDanish name, to which Tyldsley recounted the story about his great grandfather emigrating from Ireland to the USA which means that Delaney is also eligible for the US team as his grandfather is Danish - and then because Tyldsley cannot believe that anyone would be interested in any footballer unless it tied to the Premier League, he started blathering about interest in Delaney from a few PL sides. At this point McCoist tried steering the conversation back by bringing up Martin Braithwaite and asking if there's a similar story there, and Tyldsley replied there was - as he was sure some PL clubs were interested in him too Hmm, I wonder why there were a few seconds of silence after that...
If anyone's wondering, Braithwaite's father is from Guyana, a former Dutch and British colony in South America. He's extremely wealthy outside of football, due to his business partnership with his uncle and their real estate investments in the US.
England have won just 4 games out of 24 which have been shown on ITV since 1998 (according to Sports Bible).
Unless you are superstitious, there is nothing to worry about in that stat. It is a very weird co-incidence when compared to BBC coverage though.
I take back half the criticism I made about Southgate. I'll take back the other half if and when England win the Euros. Getting to two straight semifinals in major tournaments for the first time in half a century certainly looks impressive. Not beating anyone that isn't considerably weaker takes some of the shine off that, though. England have had two straight wonder draws, as it happens. I do give Southgate credit for leading England through a minefield of potential upsets. But I still think riskier tactics will be needed to beat better teams, and that now would be a great time to take a bolder approach, since England have a real chance at a major trophy for the first time in ages. If Southgate either changes to more attacking tactics, or succeeds by continuing to minimize risk, I'll give him credit and/or admit I was wrong.
Not one of the Spanish players sung theirs, for some reason. Some of the crowd did though, rather bizarrely.
There are no official words to the Spanish anthem. Some regions have their own but they are nit used nationally
