This referee in the picture was the best, a legend of his time and intimidated by everyone and even scares us at BBM with his eyes! The one in the England vs France game will be hated by English for many years like many other referees for England internationals. A tense 1-1 draw between the favourites of Group D was marred by a poor refereeing performance that allowed France to get away with countless fouls, but England still got many yellow cards. However it was the contrasting styles of football that was the main talking point of this game. England’s bulldog, 10 men behind the ball approach paid off as Joleon Lescott gave them the lead with a header, but moneybag Samir Nasri equalised for ‘Barcelona’ spain with a smart finish. Both teams will settle for a draw, but will be wary of Andriy Shevchenko and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the next evidence.
Ukraine beat Sweden 2-1 in the more exciting other game of Group D as both strikers lit up the show with the goals. Shevchenko with a double after Ibrahimovic had put Sweden ahead. Ukraine now top the group and after yesterday’s impressive showing, I think a £10 bet on Ukraine to reach the quarter finals would be a good odd to have, considering how frustrated both the French and the English were on Monday night.
So with both favourites failing to perform, and the hosts livening up the group, what becomes of the Abba infested Sweden?
By Jason Barr
