ENGLAND v. GERMANY

Ugh! What more can one say about England's dismal performance in their 4-1 defeat today by Germany in the last 16 of the World Cup? In my piece on Theo Walcott (11/6/10) I said that I doubted that England would make the quarter finals; they proved me right in decisive fashion.

My son brought home the Daily Express from England on Friday. It had a double page feature with 17 xenophobic reasons why "we're the best". They included Cheryl Cole, Margaret Thatcher, fish and chips, and the bulldog. Playing good football was - surprise, surprise - not on the list.

Oh well, at least Wimbledon still has a week to go ...

Walter Blotscher