What They'll Say, England v Tunisia
Jimmy Hill: "That referee was . . . and I have no qualms about saying this Des . . . an absolute disgrace. Pathetic. Scandalous. Contemptible. And the pitch was outrageous. And the Tunisians were cynical. And David Seaman had the flu. And the Tunisian goal wouldn't have stood in the old days when you were deemed offside if you were level with the last defender and . . ."
Des Lynam: "Jimmy?"
Jimmy: "Yes Des?"
Des: "The match hasn't started yet." Jimmy: "I know that, I'm just rehearsing. Just in case, Des." John Motson: "These are precisely the scenes we didn't want to see at this World Cup. Once again mindless football violence drags England's name into the gutter. How utterly, utterly depressing." Trevor Brooking: "Yes John, Batty really can have no complaints about that red card."
Romania V Colombia
Bob Wilson: "So Bobby, who are you going for Romania or Colombia?
Bobby Robson: "Yes, very much so, Bob."
Bob: "What?"
Bobby: "Pardon?"
Bob: "Romania or Colombia?"
Bobby: "What day is it?"
Bob: "Monday, Bobby. One last question: what planet are you on?"
Bobby: "Very much so Bob, very much so."
Patriotic Ditty: No 4
Vin-da-loo! Vin-da-loo! And we all like Vin-da-loo! We're gonna score one more than you Vin-da-loo! Vin-da-loo! It'd be quite nice if you'd score four, because then we can score five Vin-da-loo! Vin-da-loo! We're gonna score one more than you
- Vindaloo, The unofficial English World Cup song from comedian Keith Allen, Blur's Alex James and artiste Damien Hirst, aka Fat Les.
Tactical terrorism: No 1
The Leekens defence
Net breakers
"Gazza might have stood a chance if he hadn't fallen in with that Chris Evans crowd. Their rugby/stag party sessions have been well documented. Football fans, direct your anger at the Ginger One."
- Mr Gillooley said
"I have to disagree with Mr Gillooley. I think we have the Scots to thank, in particular their mole in the Gascoigne camp, Rod Stewart. There are plenty of other reasons to be angry with the Ginger One."
- Angry Art Gal replied
Everyone has a voice in the discussion forum of the France 98 site from The Irish Times on the Web: http://www.irish-times.com
The numbers game
Games to date: 13
Goals - 32 Average per game - 2.462
Bookings - 40 Average per game - 3.077
Sendings-off - 3 Average per game - 0.143
Penalties - 2 Average per game - .231
Attendance - 552,535 Average per game - 42,503
Quote of the day
"I thought the result was okay. Jamaica never lose. Jamaica are always the winners because we learn, sot that's very good."
- Jamaican coach Rene Simoes
