Monday, June 14, 2004

Stayed up to watch England snatch defeat from the jaws of victory from France last night! All through the match I kept telling myself that the French were playing so much better, stringing passes together, taking adventurous shots at goal, while the English were just content to pack their penalty box with men and clearing to touch without much thought to counterattack after their solitary first-half goal.

Barthez must be over the moon having saved a Beckham penalty. I thought the England captain was too casual taking the shot, and I knew he would rue his flippancy. But the French just had to keep the suspense right down to the very last couple of minutes to scramble a last gasp win from an almost certain loss. Zidane showed real class with his two dead-ball shots, cooly slotted in with no mistake, within a minute of each other to break the hearts of English fans around the world (wow, so drama). The French deserved their victory with their never-say-die fighting spirit. They have really stamped their quality on this year's European Cup championship, and they are certainly the team to beat.

After the match the camera panned over the English supporters and their faces were so shell-shocked. The French supporters were, of course, delirious. Me, I'm sleep deprived but satisfied. Who would have believed it? A Hollywood script couldn't have done better.

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