Eye of toad and chin of elk; leg of worm and jaw of whelk; shamrock leaf and mildew’d fungus (for the sugar-tongued among us); ragglewort and liverfluke; camel’s spit and baby’s puke; deadly nightshade, picked and pressed; milk from alligator’s breast; blood of dodo, hair of Rooney, ear of bat and smile of Clooney; claw […]

Germany 2 Netherlands 1 I’m not convinced the Germans are well-rounded, as winning Euro 2012 requires. Rumours may turn out to be well-founded that here’s a team that noticeably tires. The back four don’t appear too well grounded and hardly, it is fair to say, inspires. Yet still there’s many who are quite dumbfounded should […]

Portugal 3 Denmark 2 The Portuguese abound in clever passes, slick one-twos the order of the day but sadly they don’t know what real class is. Despite a most imperious display, they spent the whole match diving and complaining and driving all the neutral fans away. I wonder do they practice it in training? the […]

Czech Republic 2 Greece 1 In the Group of Debt, the notion that the Greeks could open their account was slowly gaining currency. Back home, the interest was high and no late withdrawals meant they felt their stock rising. But banking on surprise, the Czechs crossed early, leaving the Greeks to try and mount a […]

Poland 1 Russia 1 Under the circumstances, when the host nation of a tournament, trailing a former occupying force in a crunch game watched by millions, scores a wonderful equaliser to keep alive spirit, hope and dreams of qualification, it is perhaps understandable and entirely forgivable, that the television director chooses to replay the moment […]