England face second Euro Exit in 4 days
Montpellier Wash
Having stopped at an "Aire de repos" near Bezier, I woke up at about 5 am and decided to head to Montpellier. I thought if I get there early I could do another clothes wash as I was getting smelly again. I drove into the city and, thanks to Professor Google, found a laundromat near the center and somewhere to park. I changed into my rubbish clothes so that I could wash the ones I had slept in and been wearing since leaving Donostia. Luckily the laverie was open already and it provided the perfect opportunity to have a coffee and do a bit of sight seeing.
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| Dawn after another sleep in the car |
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| The streets of Montpellier |
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| Montpellier |
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| La Place de Comidie |
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| Cassanove Laverie |
Montpellier ticked off, it was time to head to Nice, the venue of the day's big match, the round of 16 game between England and Iceland.
Nice location, shame about the reception
I chose my AirBnB spot because, on a map, it seemed close to the stadium but I'd forgotten how big Nice is. When you arrive in Nice you are immediately impressed by the massive crescent shaped sea front, called, appropriately, Le Promenade des Anglais.
It took a bit of time to locate the place and Google SatNav gave some strange advice as I homed into it. But eventually, I parked the car near what I thought was the location. Unfortunately, my host John was busy "at a business meeting" so he said couldn't greet me until 5 pm. I arrived hot and sweaty and was looking forward to a nice shower and get changed and a couple of hours of exploring Nice before thinking about the two football matches later.
As I arrived at 2 pm, earlier than I had thought, I tried to call John to ask him if he could let me in the room earlier. He didn't pick up. I texted him with the same message and then sat in the car with the AC on to cool down a bit while I thought of what to do.
I couldn't just sit there for three hours so I decided to go off for a walk along the prom, prom, prom. It's a gorgeous scene with the brilliant turquoise sea splashing against the beach. At least it is from a distance. When you actually look closely though you realise it's a pebbly beach which isn't that nice to walk on.
I had walked for about half an hour when I felt a buzz in my pocket. It was John. He texted me saying "ok. I'll be there in five minutes".
Eek! So now, I had to try to scamper back to the house in FIVE MINUTES!? I thought about running for a second but realised that wasn't going to happen. I texted back "Please wait. On my way" and then flagged down one of those cyclist tuk tuk type ride thingies - I'm sure they have a proper name. The poor guy cycled as quick as he could to the place I'd just walked from and, because it took more than ten minutes he charged me 25 Euros. Rip off!
I ran back to the car and, breathing heavily and sweating cobs, phoned John again. He picked up this time. "Sorry Aljice, I am at a business meeting. I could not wait." I must admit I lost my rag with him a bit at this point. He suggested I needed to cool down by going for a dip in the sea.
After a bit of consideration, I realised it wasn't actually a bad idea so that is what I did. I parked the car nearer his house, which I know knew exactly where it was, and got changed into my bathers, put sun screen on and headed for the beach.
It was lovely to cool down but I came back to the car still feeling a bit grubby and really wanted to have a shower.
At about 4:45 I got another text from John saying he was home.
So, at last, at about 5 pm I was in my room, had a shower and got changed. 3 hours, not totally wasted but it was a frustrating start to my time in Nice. A sign of things to come later.
So, I decided the best plan was to get an Uber to take me to the ground and walk back from there to find somewhere close to watch the game.
Again, Uber didn't disappoint. The driver arrived within two minutes, offered me a very welcome bottle of water to drink and knew the perfect place to drop me off - a nice little brasserie about 15 minutes walk from the ground.
It took a bit of time to locate the place and Google SatNav gave some strange advice as I homed into it. But eventually, I parked the car near what I thought was the location. Unfortunately, my host John was busy "at a business meeting" so he said couldn't greet me until 5 pm. I arrived hot and sweaty and was looking forward to a nice shower and get changed and a couple of hours of exploring Nice before thinking about the two football matches later.
As I arrived at 2 pm, earlier than I had thought, I tried to call John to ask him if he could let me in the room earlier. He didn't pick up. I texted him with the same message and then sat in the car with the AC on to cool down a bit while I thought of what to do.
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| Rough pebbly beach... not so nice |
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| Beautiful, turquoise panorama |
I couldn't just sit there for three hours so I decided to go off for a walk along the prom, prom, prom. It's a gorgeous scene with the brilliant turquoise sea splashing against the beach. At least it is from a distance. When you actually look closely though you realise it's a pebbly beach which isn't that nice to walk on.
I had walked for about half an hour when I felt a buzz in my pocket. It was John. He texted me saying "ok. I'll be there in five minutes".
Eek! So now, I had to try to scamper back to the house in FIVE MINUTES!? I thought about running for a second but realised that wasn't going to happen. I texted back "Please wait. On my way" and then flagged down one of those cyclist tuk tuk type ride thingies - I'm sure they have a proper name. The poor guy cycled as quick as he could to the place I'd just walked from and, because it took more than ten minutes he charged me 25 Euros. Rip off!
I ran back to the car and, breathing heavily and sweating cobs, phoned John again. He picked up this time. "Sorry Aljice, I am at a business meeting. I could not wait." I must admit I lost my rag with him a bit at this point. He suggested I needed to cool down by going for a dip in the sea.
After a bit of consideration, I realised it wasn't actually a bad idea so that is what I did. I parked the car nearer his house, which I know knew exactly where it was, and got changed into my bathers, put sun screen on and headed for the beach.
It was lovely to cool down but I came back to the car still feeling a bit grubby and really wanted to have a shower.
At about 4:45 I got another text from John saying he was home.
So, at last, at about 5 pm I was in my room, had a shower and got changed. 3 hours, not totally wasted but it was a frustrating start to my time in Nice. A sign of things to come later.
Italy Uber Spain
Time was ticking and having now realised how big Nice is it was clearly not an option to watch the big match, Spain v Italy anywhere near the center. I asked John if he knew any bars near the ground but he didn't.So, I decided the best plan was to get an Uber to take me to the ground and walk back from there to find somewhere close to watch the game.
Again, Uber didn't disappoint. The driver arrived within two minutes, offered me a very welcome bottle of water to drink and knew the perfect place to drop me off - a nice little brasserie about 15 minutes walk from the ground.
The waitress set me up at a table right in front of a TV with the pre-match show already on. I saw on the menu there was a fish section and one I didn't recognise. I asked her in my crappy French, what it was and she said (honestly) "c'est un poisson, it is a feeesh". So I ordered it.
It was octopus!
Not really a fan of that, but as I was hungry I managed to eat half of it.
At one point I chatted to a guy was supporting Iceland but was Norwegian. He assured me that the Brexit result was a good one - on economic grounds. I replied that I was skeptical but appreciated a view that was not totally gloomy. We both agreed that the main reason for the vote, however, was not economic but due to xenophobia which he also finds abhorrent.
The press have slated the Italian squad as "their worst ever at a major tournament" but under their astute manager of new Chelsea boss Conte, they continue to impress.
So, Italy's reward for beating Belgium then Spain? a quarter final against Germany! Some teams seem to always get the hard draws. Not like England, we only had Iceland, a country with the population of Coventry!
I walked to the ground, most of the time with a nice German guy from Munich who was a Mainz fan.
It was octopus!
Not really a fan of that, but as I was hungry I managed to eat half of it.
At one point I chatted to a guy was supporting Iceland but was Norwegian. He assured me that the Brexit result was a good one - on economic grounds. I replied that I was skeptical but appreciated a view that was not totally gloomy. We both agreed that the main reason for the vote, however, was not economic but due to xenophobia which he also finds abhorrent.
Italy 2 Spain 0
This was definitely the biggest match so far and could easily have made a suitable final. Billed as the clash of two giants, everyone was expecting a close encounter but, in truth, Italy destroyed Spain and dominated pretty much from start to finish.The press have slated the Italian squad as "their worst ever at a major tournament" but under their astute manager of new Chelsea boss Conte, they continue to impress.
So, Italy's reward for beating Belgium then Spain? a quarter final against Germany! Some teams seem to always get the hard draws. Not like England, we only had Iceland, a country with the population of Coventry!
I walked to the ground, most of the time with a nice German guy from Munich who was a Mainz fan.
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| Feeling good at this stage |
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| Convenient Brasserie |
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| Arrived at the ground |
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| Before the drama |
Not Nice for England
I arrived at the new stadium full of excitement and anticipation. The stadium was full of England fans. Some of them might be a bit stupid sometimes but you cannot help but admire their amazing support. I reckon at least two thirds of the ground were England fans.
Unfortunately, Iceland had other ideas and equalised almost immediately. Sigurdsson evading the "marking" to head home after a throw in was flicked on. For 12 minutes, England were on parity, and Deli Alli almost restored England's lead before Sigthorsen's shot, again, mysteriously slipped through Joe Hart's hands and into the net.
England laboured to recover but, despite creating a few chances ioncluding a lovely volley by Kane, couldn't manage it and went in at half time facing catastrophe.
I was sat next to a Swiss fan who seemed to take some joy in how badly England were playing. He suggested England were just hoofing the ball up every time and had no idea how to break down the Icelandic defence, to which I replied that in the Slovakia game England played a tic-a-tac passing game and that failed too. We needed a bit of variety. Kane's close effort was the result of such a long ball.
Anyway, like the Norwegian guy earlier, he reassured me that Britain leaving the EU was no bad thing. I wasn't sure I could agree but, again, it was good to hear a more positive spin on it.
As the second half started, the realisation spread through the England fans that we were about to witness yet another English sporting debacle. Rather than showing fight and determination, England seemed to freeze. They were choked with fear. Rabbits in the headlight. The one player with some experience, captain Wayne Rooney, the one the younger lads would be looking to, shrank into a nervous wreck and seemed to forget how to play football. His passing was terrible. The panic spread through the team and it turned out to be the worst performance I've ever seen from an international team. Lithuania would have beaten England on that form.
England 1 Iceland 2
The game started explosively and within two minutes England were awarded a penalty when the much maligned Raheem Sterling was bundled over in the box by their goalie. Rooney scored impressively. 1-0 to England. This was the perfect start, the one we'd all talked about. If England could just get an early lead, Iceland would be forced to come out of their shell and England would surely go on to win easily.Unfortunately, Iceland had other ideas and equalised almost immediately. Sigurdsson evading the "marking" to head home after a throw in was flicked on. For 12 minutes, England were on parity, and Deli Alli almost restored England's lead before Sigthorsen's shot, again, mysteriously slipped through Joe Hart's hands and into the net.
England laboured to recover but, despite creating a few chances ioncluding a lovely volley by Kane, couldn't manage it and went in at half time facing catastrophe.
I was sat next to a Swiss fan who seemed to take some joy in how badly England were playing. He suggested England were just hoofing the ball up every time and had no idea how to break down the Icelandic defence, to which I replied that in the Slovakia game England played a tic-a-tac passing game and that failed too. We needed a bit of variety. Kane's close effort was the result of such a long ball.
Anyway, like the Norwegian guy earlier, he reassured me that Britain leaving the EU was no bad thing. I wasn't sure I could agree but, again, it was good to hear a more positive spin on it.
As the second half started, the realisation spread through the England fans that we were about to witness yet another English sporting debacle. Rather than showing fight and determination, England seemed to freeze. They were choked with fear. Rabbits in the headlight. The one player with some experience, captain Wayne Rooney, the one the younger lads would be looking to, shrank into a nervous wreck and seemed to forget how to play football. His passing was terrible. The panic spread through the team and it turned out to be the worst performance I've ever seen from an international team. Lithuania would have beaten England on that form.
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| Iceland fans ecstatic afterwards |
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| Great scenes before |
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| Putting a brave face on |
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| Another historic disaster for England |
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| England distraught |
I watched with gloom and never really thought they'd equalise despite Marcus Rashford coming on, and showing a bit of intent for the first time.
The self destruct button was pressed by England, but let's not forget that Iceland played really well. Their defence was well organised and the whole team competed for every ball. This wasn't a park the bus scenario either. In the second half, Iceland created more chances than England and, if anything, the score should have been 3-1 rather than ending 2-2.
For every Icelander there are 157 English, and yet at the end it was as if it was the other way round judging by the singing after the game. Not the booing, note. It was the most hostile I've ever heard England fans react to their team's performance
The self destruct button was pressed by England, but let's not forget that Iceland played really well. Their defence was well organised and the whole team competed for every ball. This wasn't a park the bus scenario either. In the second half, Iceland created more chances than England and, if anything, the score should have been 3-1 rather than ending 2-2.
For every Icelander there are 157 English, and yet at the end it was as if it was the other way round judging by the singing after the game. Not the booing, note. It was the most hostile I've ever heard England fans react to their team's performance
England fans took it on the chin and I saw no trouble whatsoever. I went out of my way to shake the hands of every Iceland fan I saw and congratulate them on their win. It took ages to walk to the bus stop to catch a bus back to the city. I had a nice chat with three lovely young ladies, two Norwegian and one from Iceland. Back in the city I walked around a while but couldn't face the prospect of drinking any beer so I walked along the long promenade des Anglais back to the house, stunned.
So much for my dream of watching three England knock out games on the trot and England v France in Paris. Yet again, England excel themselves at embarrassing themselves. Two European exits in four days.
Aljice
So much for my dream of watching three England knock out games on the trot and England v France in Paris. Yet again, England excel themselves at embarrassing themselves. Two European exits in four days.
Aljice
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