In the latest part of JohnnyTheNic's World Cup diary, we hear about his problems with Lionel Messi, Talksport, slugs coming up the sink, and his other recurring pet peeves…
Date published: Saturday 3rd December 2022 8:10 -
Archie Rhind-Tutt chats about Germany and Niclas Fullkrug, the 29-year-old goalscorer from last night’s game. I love Archie. He’s always a welcome rather boyish voice and seems to really know his German stuff. When it’s over, I emerge knowing more than I did. And that’s all I want out of every day. After eating I wander into the room and turn the game on but mute the sound, to see what it’s like without any commentary. The answer is; weird. It is hard to engage with the game and it feels like you are watching from behind a thick glass window. We might complain about commentators and co-comms but they are essential, I think. The camera pans to Real Ronaldo sitting there like a giant sponge pudding, his hair a grated chocolate topping. Some Brazil fans have feather headdresses on.
Uruguay lost the game and were a disappointment, but it is such a small country with a population a little over half that of Scotland at 3.4 million, so it constantly bats higher up the order than it should.With just two games per day to watch now, things feel a bit more civilised and there is room for life outside of football.ITV have chosen to show this game on ITV1 rather than Senegal v Ecuador.
Readers may have noticed that so far I have ignored talkSPORT’s output altogether. But I’d always planned to start dipping into them when there were fewer games every day. And so that time is now. I dipped in to listen to an hour of build up to the England game. Stuart Pearce, Dean Ashton and Dean Saunders were on hand to talk for a few minutes. It was all perfectly decent, though Saunders’ assertion that England were “a team of men – 6’3″ solid men apart from Phil Foden who is still learning the game” was a few inches wide of the mark. Dean Ashton is more thoughtful and Pearce’s unreconstructed accent is like a distant echo of the 1960s and 1970s working class.
Southgate has picked Foden who takes to the field wearing a haircut that resembles a yarmulke. Dawn comes in for a vodka and oatmilk, knackered after rollering the ceiling. ‘Why’s he wearing a swimming cap?’ she asks of Foden. As ever, after a good win, Southgate’s critics have gone quiet, at least for 24 hours. He has the best record in tournaments of any England manager, but I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s called a ‘woke dinosaur’ again, whatever that means.Australia v Denmark
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