England 3, Norway 0...

I watched England women beat Norway women last night, in the company of a couple of blokes. The oldest guy had been drinking, he said, since 11am, so was happy to stare gormlessly at whatever was on TV. “Are they all dykes?", he wondered. The other guy coached a kids’ football team, and was quite a vocal advocate for women’s football. The women in the pub seemed more interested in their cocktails and chat.

It was a pretty good game, and England took their goals well. The third goal was a screamer, by Lucy Bronze, from outside the penalty area, which nearly burst a hole in the net. Conspicuous by their absence were players rolling around, pretending to be injured. They didn’t spend half the game passing the ball sideways. They seemed to keep their egos in check, and didn’t harangue the referee whenever a decision failed to go their way. England will now face the winner of tonight’s game, USA vs France, in Tuesday’s semi-final.

Licensed today: blurred bus passing through the village of Corfe Castle...