The undoing of delusion...

Playlist

Udo Lindenberg - Stärker Als Die Zeit

Udo Lindenberg - Epic

Only Udo Lindenberg listened to today...

The "Epic" is one track each (the longest) from his first 35 albums...

In the afternoon, news that my mum was once again back home...

Out to Loanhead in the early evening...

She was in reasonable spirits but very much feeling a bit sorry for herself...

I cheered her up a wee bit by making her some scrambled eggs on toast for her tea...

...and there has been some blooming in her garden while she's been away for the last three weeks...

While I was there, a text from Anne indicated England were 1-0 up against Croatia after 5 minutes and the latter appeared "all over the place"...

By the time the second half started I was back home, leaving my my mum catching up with several hours of "Coronation Street" - she also has almost 50 episodes of "Midsomer Murders" on her Tivo box, which I only managed to get down from 100% to 97% full, given all the mum responses of "oh I like watching that" to almost every deletion suggestion...

Anne and I were up doing something at the computer when we heard the crowd roar on theTV...

1-1...

We watched on...

Croatia hit the post and seemed to be well on top but all too soon, the 90 minutes were up and it moved into extra time...

A great save from England's Pickford and a header off the line by Croatia from the head of Stones at a corner - England always most dangerous from set plays...

Then with around 10 minutes to go, Stones was caught napping and Mandzukic slipped in and netted from close range...

Time wound down and England were out...

The Stats said it all though. 2 shots on target. They'd made a little go a long way...

Kind of...

A last minute win against Tunisia, a much lauded (but, really, was it so unexpected?), 6-1 win against lowly Panama (including two penalties and hugely deflected goal off the back of Kane's leg -all three of these counting towards his possible golden boot)...

Beaten by Belgium's reserves..

And, really, ought to have gone out to Colombia (playing without their best player) but for one wonderful save from Pickford (again) and the woodwork...

They easily beat Sweden who were absolutely dreadful...

But, finally, Croatia, ranked 7 places below them (only Belgium of all their opponents are ranked higher than England), were the undoing of the English media's delusion...

No real creativity, except from set plays...

This proven inability to create chances from open play was the one thing letting them down. Address that and this squad has a great future...

And, of course, they are better than Scotland...

And will continue to enjoy the advantages of seeding for major competitions...

In other news, Queen of the South beat Hearts 1-0 in a friendly in Dumfries...

Today's artwork, "On a Plate"...

Highlight of the Day : England out, finally...