salty

As usual qualifying campaign a stroll for England.

Thought England began to sit on their lead in last 15 minutes of the 90 and invited trouble.

"My daughter is going to your country to work."

A smartly dressed guy with good English engaged me in conversation outside a 7/11 on Soi 4 Sukh one morning. When I told told him I was Irish he told me his daughter was due to start nursing training in Dublin. What a coincidence. I am sure most of you have read about this scam many times. Could I talk to her? She is not available right now. Could I go with him to meet her?

Anyone foolish enough to believe this patter have been known to have been drugged, scammed at cards, in some extreme cases have had a kidney removed.

He was a very plausible guy who didn't bat an eyelid when I told him I had no intention of going anywhere with him. .

I wonder what would Garfield have to say about it?

Australia has not been impressed with many Irish visitors who do not seem to have any brains.

Reinforces my belief that it is better to have as little contact with thai males as possible.

No chance of her forgetting this incident.

He was a pundit on BT Sport on several occasions last season . I haven't seen him on this season.

A mixed week for John O'Shea.

The various venues to stage Euro 2020 final games have just been announced. The result of another one of Platini's "brilliant" ideas are as follows:

London final and both semi finals.

Munich Baku St Petersburg Rome 1/4 final and 3 group games each.

Glasgow Dublin Amsterdam Bilbao and others will host a last 16 game and 3 group matches.

Dare one mention Bend it like Beckham?

When Saturday comes. Sean Bean was in it.

England only need to turn up to qualify.

Maybe you might go for it yourself.

As the knockout rounds progressed he has looked more and more shattered physically. I fear his greatest days may be in the past.

GERMANY is #1 in almost everything! Congratulations on showing who is on top!

it's just 22 men chasing a ball around, a game, not serious stuff.

Seems you have never heard of Bill Shankly. "Some people say football is a matter of life and death. They are wrong its more important than that."

I always felt that Argentina had to win it in 90 minutes. It was obvious in the closing stages several of their players were running on empty. The days less rest was compounded by the nature of the 2 semi finals.

Despite Germany's dominance in possession Argentina had better chances but didn't put them away. Excellent winning goal by Gotze. Like most of the recent World Cup Finals apart from 2006 the losers failed to score.

While not the greatest German team they were solid and efficient and overall were the best side in the competition. When you can bring on subs of the quality of Schurrle and Gotze it shows the strength of their squad.

Staggering score. Brazil collapsed like a breached dam and the water poured through. Hard to see Germany losing the final.

9pm BST 3am Thai time.

Somehow the Germans always seem to get it done. They are solid but hardly brilliant but that may well be enough against Brazil without Neymar and Silva.

The great Alfredo Di Stefano passed away today after suffering a heart attack yesterday at the age of 88. He scored for Real Madrid in the first 5 European Cups 1956-60 all won by Real Madrid. In the 1960 final at Hampden Park before 137,000 Real beat Eintracht 7-3 and Puskas and Di Stefano scored all the goals. He won caps for his native Argentina and subsequently was allowed to play for Spain. He played in the 1962 World Cup for Spain but was past his best at that stage.

When Real signed a galactico he was always photographed with the player displaying the Real jersey.

That dreadful referee gave a license to all players to foul with impunity and Brazil in particular took advantage. Colombia had been far more sinned against during the game so it was ironic that a dreadful "challenge" on Neymar has put him out of the World Cup. I have to say at the start when I saw that clown in charge I was apprehensive.

Holland on Penalties after 0-0. Poor match for nearly all the 90 mns and then it livened up considerably for extra time as the Dutch liad siege to the Costa Rican goal. Despite hitting the bar a couple of times they were unable to score. In fact Costa Rica were the livelier in the last few minutes and Classen had to make a good block with his feet.

To everyone's astonishment Tim Krul came on to replace him in the dying seconds for the penalty shootout. It worked because he saved 2. Big call by Van Gaal.

Given the severity of that foul by the Brazilian goalkeeper,

why didn't he get a red card and not a yellow card for that offence.

Yes, a yellow and a penalty and a goal ensued ... but that was a dangerous trip.

The referee was absolutely awful and let too much go.

I agree. Disgraceful display by the referee. But I am not surprised. He bottled in with the Uruguan defender against England who should have a 2nd yellow and been sent off when it was 0-0. Also remember a shocking display Galtasaray-Chelsea Cl. He allowed Ferna

ndinho rough up Rodrigues without any card and the game descended into a series of spiteful and niggly fouls without any sanction.

While Colombia were by no means innocent Brazil benefited far more and several should have been booked. The Colombians committed several stupid fouls in the closing stages to give Brazil respite when they were on the ropes.

As for the goals Silva had an easy job to score from the corner after 6 mns when his "marker" was fast asleep. Luiz with a terrific free kick in the 68th minute. Brazil then procedded to lash the ball mindlessly upfield at every opportunity even though there was still 20 minutes to go.By Brazil previous standards they are dreadful and were hanging on for dear life after Colombia scored from the penalty.