More, please

Dream result for England on Day 1 - a victory against Paraguay and then a Sweden/T&T draw to put them firmly top of the group. But it looked oh so painful. Typical Sven-Goran hand-wringing and holding on at the end against weaker opponent's. The fans began chanting Rooney's name 70 minutes in. What must it be like, to be a young kid hearing that?

Last night the celebrations were manic, as Ecuador managed a cracker of a victory, and I proved to be their favorite supporter in all of Halifax. A wonderful swirl through the Lower Deck. Ecuadorian.

Torsten Frings may have scored the most beautiful goal of the tournament in the very first game. Simon Barnes, unsurprisingly, has produced the definitive opening statement:

Victory would be nice, but what every one really wants is a ride. A journey. A story to live through. There is a strong feeling here that what matters is not the arriving but the travelling, the hitch-hiking from hope to hope until journey’s end, which is generally at the town Disappointment.

The Germans feel like this and so, too, do the English. It is not a matter of “please God let us win”, but “please, God, let the journey not end just yet”.