Good morning.
I played 5-a-side football last night for the first time in months, and I’m so sore today I can’t even describe it. But it was really fun. And I’ll tell you what didn’t happen.
I have never had an opponent roll through the air like a kung-fu movie extra and put studs in the back of my calf. That would be ridiculous, my friends, if it happened, wouldn’t it? It sounds like I’m making up an extreme example of something you would never see on a football pitch, whether it’s a Dublin 5s or an international match between France and Italy.
erroneous!
Look at this nonsense. France’s Ousmane Dembele gets tackled, and like some kung-fu extra, he swoops through the air and lands his studs first on the back of Riccardo Calafiori’s leg. The Arsenal player had no idea, which is perfectly normal. You don’t expect a footballer to swoosh through the air like that and use their calves as landing pads.
I saw this last night and my first thought was ‘this could only happen to Arsenal players’. Like, if a dog ran onto a football pitch and we all had a great time watching the dog escape and have a great time at the football pitch, but if the dog realized who the Arsenal player was and tripped and broke his ankle, what would happen?
Fortunately, Calafiori’s initial diagnosis doesn’t seem so bad. “We have to evaluate Riccardo, but with our staff, there’s a good chance we’ll have him back for the next game,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said.
It seems better than expected, but I can’t rest assured yet. ‘With our staff’ is a pretty big burden to me. Are they really a great staff, or are they going to Frankenstein his legs to get him out of the next game? I’ll cross all of them.
William Saliba played the full 90 minutes for France, but Italy won 3-1 that night. Elsewhere, Martin Odegaard (and Erling Haaland) played the full 90 minutes in Norway’s 0-0 draw in Kazakhstan, while Gabriel played the full game in Brazil’s 1-0 win over Ecuador.
All eyes are on Dublin today as England take on the Republic of Ireland. Is it fair to call it the Declan Rice derby? As we all know, he played three games in green before deciding to represent England, and Jack Grealish, who is expected to start today, played the same game after representing Ireland from U17 to U21 (20 games in total). There is no doubt he will be criticised by the crowd for his gesture today, and it is worth noting that England’s caretaker manager Lee Carsley has 40 international caps for Ireland.
So, here’s a little bit of an addition, because some in the British press have been stirring things up by saying that Carsley will not be singing the national anthem before the game. He said:
This is something I always struggled with when I played for Ireland – the gap between warming up, coming out onto the pitch and the national anthem being played.
I always really focused on the game and the first action of the game. I really found that I was careful not to let my mind wander during that period. I really focused on football and applied that to coaching.
So that’s something I’ve never done before.
Whether or not you accept that explanation, the idea that Carsley should be criticized for not singing is ridiculous. He is a former Ireland international, and I think it is a basic respect for the time he wore that shirt. He is not saying he will boo the England national anthem, just keep quiet. Also, think about what would happen if it were the other way around. An England player managing Ireland at Wembley singing the Irish national anthem. They would crucify him. So the hypocrisy of these patriotic hackers is staggering. Especially since the national anthem is just a song. Who cares if you sing it or not?
Let’s just hope Rice and Bukayo Saka can get through the game without any issues and it’s likely to be a lively afternoon at Lansdowne Road.
Okay, that’s all for now. Pray for the Italian Stallion. I’ll be back tomorrow with more.
