In Kendal last night, parked down by the river. For ninety minutes I paraded my paltry Welsh connections, and watched Wales play Belgium (currently ranked the second-best side in the world). The game pulsated with excitement from start to finish. Where England had been inert, against Iceland, Wales were vibrant. Their three goals were well worked, and they fully deserved the win. Hal Robson-Kanu’s shimmy in the penalty box wrong-footed three Belgian defenders simultaneously, before he turned and scored. At the final whistle the Belgians looked shell-shocked. They’d scored their own wonder goal - an unstoppable long-range strike into the top corner of the net - but it was all but forgotten amid Welsh euphoria.
Wales played as a team, England as a collection of individuals (contriving to be less than the sum of their expensive parts). Are the fans’ unrealistic expectation - and the force with which they are expressed, in the media and elsewhere - actually making it harder for the England team to play to their full potential? Is it possible that the fans are - albeit unwittingly - undermining their team’s chances of sporting success?…
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