Hope remains

The English got knocked out and Richard Williams of the Guardian captured it right.

".. A successful apprenticeship in the upper reaches of English football wraps such an effective comfort blanket around a young player that he is seldom exposed to the harsh realities of the outside world, and never confronts those moments in which failure really does mean disaster. When they are called to summon reserves of resilience at moments of extreme pressure, they discover those reserves either do not exist or have been depleted by the demands of domestic football..."

I do think that the English league is emerging as one of the toughest leagues in the World. But the performance of what seemed an 'Incredible 11' in this tournament, clearly indicates that its more due to the foreign coaching and the Henrys, Xabi Alonsos, Cescs, the Israeli Boy, Heinzes, Makeleles, Petr Cechs, Crespos around. Lampard, Gerrard and Beckham seemed half their usual self. While they ground to yet another win at each stage, what was apparent was there seemed very little fluidity - possibly, symptomatic of the English way of life. It can also be attributed to the long season, clueless coach etc - but those are just excuses. The English are not benefitting it from the quality league that it has. They need the outsiders to keep it going - but thats another discussion all together.

But as always, there are exceptions. None more than this man. Probably because, save for his t-shirt, there is very little English in him. His performance for England, has many people (incl me) admitting to our complete lack of understanding of what he is actually capable of. Mr. Williams has an explanation for this also.

"...Before Hargreaves was born, his parents left Britain to make a new life for their family in Canada. They succeeded, and in so doing may have laid the mental foundation for his son's career. Owen Hargreaves arrived in Munich as a 16-year-old and began a long struggle to establish himself among the superstars in the first team at Bayern, in a country where he knew no one and had to learn the language from scratch. When times were difficult, when he was dropped or suffered injuries, his parents' example of ambition and self-sufficiency can have done him no harm..."

The weekend belonged to the Marseille Dancer and this team. Who collectively squashed and killed the Opportunist fan! Ha.. what joy.