And so it is that during the spectacle of a winter World Cup, hosts Qatar have made history- just not of the sort they wanted, having to leave their own party early after a return of one goal in three games. Mohammed Muntari's strike against Senegal in their second match of Group A fixtures probably the one bright spot following an opening defeat to Ecuador and signing off in similarly abject circumstances against Holland.
It’s world cup season, in the wrong season. Never mind the three week period post-champions league final of warm up games, tournament tree posters being blu-tacked onto bedroom walls, fevered speculation, overpriced FIFA World Cup video games being sold and traded in, highlight reels and Spain managers being sacked, never mind all that. This year players (well, those who play in Europe) barely just finished their post-game showers before jetplaning for the middle east.
With less than a week before England open their World Cup campaign against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, might there be cause for some degree of cautious optimism in Tehran (England's recent dodgy run of form notwithstanding), subject to the outcome of proceedings to have their boys given their marching orders?
As I hand my ticket over to the steward for inspection, I try not to say too much. I try to say nothing, actually. I don’t have a strong Welsh accent, a product of years living in Asia, teaching English to children, flattening any trace of singsong inflection from my speech. (But this is a thing reported on in contrasting ways; English people think I sound Welsh, Welsh people think I sound English. I don’t think I sound quite like either.)
Time for the latest in our series of football away days, and on this occasion the new experience involved a short trip to South Wales and some League Two football at Rodney Parade. The game we chose was a clash with the, at the time, bottom of the table Rochdale AFC, whilst Newport County were hovering around the lower mid-table region. With a lot riding on the game, our own stakes were raised when the date of the fixture ended up clashing with another RMT strike across the train networks (solidarity brothers!), but thankfully we suffered little inconvenience when grabbing a coach instead.