By the final whistle, I wasn't as horrified by the Spain victory as I thought I might be. I'd have loved it to be the other way around, if only for Messi's sake, but they didn't really deserve it, and Spain weren't quite as boring as I they could have been. That said, the Saturday night goalfest exceeded even my own expectations and hopes, and it could have been even better if France had actually turned up before the second half.
For numerous reasons though, I'm very happy it's finally all over and we're back to proper football, as epitomised by the Scottish Professional Football Leagues and the League Cup Qualifiers. I can't say I enjoyed the World Cup Tournament overall though, and not just because the Scots packed their bags early yet again. Lots of aspects I found pretty frustrating and often annoying (maybe I've reached peak curmudgeonliness in my advancing years - just glad Mince beat me to it by at least a decade), culminating in me being in very rare agreement with Wayne Rooney over his assessment of the half-time show on Sunday ("I thought it was crap.") - highlight of the day for me.
But I'm really glad you enjoyed embracing so much of it, Diane. Your unfolding commentary and appreciation has trumped most of the negative aspects of the past few weeks for me.
And speaking of Trump, I was almost disappointed at how well behaved he was for most of the game, and he even seemed to be enjoying dishing out the medals. But then he couldn't resist photobombing the Spanish team's celebration pictures, whilst Infantino tried to drag him away... absolutely priceless!
Well done, Spain.
Well done, England.
Just a few weeks ago, you'd have got better odds on me saying either of those things than Cape Verde winning the trophy 5-0.
