Belgian Waffle – Mr Hodson

Uncategorized Mr Hodson June 28, 2018 0 Comments

Just a few hours from now, the England team kicks off against Belgium in what was, prior to the tournament, a hotly anticipated climax to Group G. However, with England having defied all expectation and demonstrated something verging on impressive football (did Gareth Southgate sell his soul to the devil for a magical exchange of footballing roles with the Germans?), we’ve safely qualified for the last 16 and are not at risk of facing any of the big boys in the next round. Who awaits us? One of Japan, Senegal or Colombia.

In a show of remarkable complacency given our recent habit of ignominious disaster in major competitions, some people are even looking as far ahead as the quarter-finals. These fools make bold statements like ‘coming second in the group is better as then we don’t have to play Brazil in the quarters’. Some people have been audacious enough to suggest that England winning the group would mean a quarter final that would interrupt Mr Gould’s wedding next weekend. Which is a genuine concern.

It is such speculation that has led to a debate about whether or not England really want to won tonight: is topping the group, paradoxically, a bad idea? And if we draw, then surely no one tops the group as we’d be neck and neck with our Flemish (and Walloon) counterparts on points, goal difference and goals scored? Apparently, it would then come down to yellow and red cards: ‘fair play’. If you want to know how hard it can be to separate England and Belgium at a World Cup, just ask Mr 119th Minute: David Platt…

So do we want to beat Belgium tonight? Of course we do – or at least we want a good performance. Losing momentum, even after such a blistering performance as that against Panama, is never a good thing. And really, this is the first time this World Cup we’ve faced world class oppostion, so let’s show we can compete and see if the post-Panama optimism is justified (I think it’s been a bit OTT, frankly). At the same time: no injuries to key players like Harry Kane.

My prediction: well, in the staff predictor it’s 2-1 Belgium, but I’m going to be patriotic and say a 1-1 draw and more Belgian bookings than English (England top the group).