The match officials for Japan v Senegal are from Italy, Italy, Italy and Qatar. Obviously. Has this been the norm? I haven't been paying too much attention.
In both games, England have started brightly with plenty of running and energy. That's when Lingard can cause problems finding space in and around the box and England are dangerous from all the set pieces created. But in both games, when energy levels drop and the game is played at a more sedate pace, England look pretty clueless. What can they offer in the second half of games against teams good at retaining the ball?
And Columbia are good. Chances are, I think, that the loser of Belgium England will face the weaker opponent. Colombia ought to be able to beat Senegal and Japan are likely to get by Poland. James, Cuadrado and Falcao are not too shabby, the CBs are enormous and athletic, and the team as a whole are pacy and technical. They would, I think, have won the group pretty comfortably if not for that fifth minute red card. Southgate wouldn't rest his starters, would he?
After watching Wilmar Barrios' performances in his first two games, I have a quick question: can the bloggers please be wrong about our supposed lack of interest? He's like what would happen if you put Sandro at his peak in a teleportation machine with the Energizer Bunny, and that's a player I'd love to see at NEW STADIUM. On the other hand, that's the second Columbia match where Ser Davos hasn't looked as imposing as he does for us, although the fact Columbia's midfield play so high up might be the reason the defence keeps getting exposed. Also, seriously, the BBC wheeling out Didier Drogba as a pundit for any West African country really looks bad...
Swedish fans have taken a lead from Saltypool's charming mob by responding to Jimmy Durmaz conceding the free kick for Germany's last-second winner by racially abusing him on social media and sending death threats to him and his family. You casn almost smell the disappointment from the BBC that it was Swedish fans doing this and not Russian ones...
Beaten Tunisia and Panama. Sure, it's not a sign of anything significant, but it makes a nice change! Kane being subbed off in the second game having scored five goals is an improvement on Rooney stropping off at the final whistle and slagging off the fans. John Stones now has more World Cup finals goals than him, by the way. Ouch. Are England going to win the thing? Almost certainly not. Defensive shambles still and the quality just isn't there. Nice to see the team looking happy at a tournament and winning a couple of games, though. Southgate seems to have got something right off the pitch, even if he's not 100% on it.
Good news for Mo Salah: after today he can dedicate plenty of time to learning Spanish to impress the journalists during his unveiling ceremony
A summary of the first half of Russia/Uruguay... please log in to view this image Oh yeah, nearly forgot: any Columbians want to send some justifiable trolling Szczesny's way on Twitter?
