Jesus. A mere four days in and I'm already suffering a touch of football related fatigue (or FRF). In my defence, there are some contributory factors. I've had a cold, I'm proof-reading my sister's doctoral thesis, and…er…we've run out of coffee. Honestly.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I'm knackered - though still on a mild high after seeing our consistently inconsistent Iberian friends strut their stuff (with gay abandon) against Guus Hiddink's game but fragile Russians.

I say a "mild" high because, let's face it, we've been here before and we've bought the (Viva España) T-shirts - only to be left mashing egg into our humbled and confused faces. When Spain turn on the dash and panache (as they did earlier today) it can be hard to stop the excited football fantasist inside me from losing the run of itself. "They seem to have it together this time", that excited voice giddily yammers, "They look determined not to repeat the sins of old!".

Then, after calming down and dipping my head in a nearby bucket of iced water, I quieten that voice and remember - the pitiful record, the (notorious) glass jaw, the endless flattering and deceiving. Since losing to a great French team in the 1984 final (no shame there) Spain's tale of woe has unfolded as follows…

1988 - 1 win, 2 defeats, out in the group stages.

1992 - Didn't even qualify (finishing third in their group behind France & "Czechoslovakia").¹

1996 - Scraped out of their group and then suffered the ultimate kick in the cojones. Losing, in the 1/4 final, to England, on penalties. Yes, England. It took some truly world-class choking to pull off a feat previously thought (by most experts) to be practically impossible.²

2000 - Lost (oh dear) to Norway in the opening match. Beat Slovenia in the second. Overcame Yugoslavia 4-3 in an unforgettable third and then, when 2-1 down to France in their 1/4 final, Raul showed the true bottler's instinct by blasting a last-minute penalty over the bar. So it goes…

2004 - A win, a draw, a defeat = out (once again) in the group stages.

So before you, I, or anyone else who has a soft spot for Team España overdoses on the optimism pipe - let's allow the above history lesson to sink in and rain on our parade. They've arsed things up before and (when the weight of expectation becomes too much to bear) they'll most likely arse things up again.

With that cheery thought, I bid you a cranky good night!

Spain 4 -1 Russia
Greece 0-2 Sweden

1. As it was then. [back]
2. It should be noted here, of course, that Ireland showed (in 2002) that they could go one better - out-choking the chokers. [back]