I did not wake up to see England play last night but I was up for the Wales/USA clash. The latter was an interesting game of essentially two halves. The Americans dominated possession and won the midfield in the first 45 minutes, while the Welsh, obviously fired up by a half-time roasting, were in charge for much of the the second half. 1-1 seems like a very fair result, I would say.

I watched the highlights of the other two games that were played while I slept, with England battering a hapless Iran 6-2 and the Dutch getting two late goals to down Sengal. Iran is one the better teams in the Asian Confederation and are very hard to beat, so, either the standard in our region is dropping or the English played a blinder. Or both.

Australia gets started tomorrow morning against France. It is a big ask for the Socceroos - how to contain a team of world class players and make some meaningful impact. Football is a funny game and big teams do get knocked off from time to time by minnows. For Australia, even a draw will seem like a win.

May the legend and spirit of the 1974 World Cup side be on the pitch tomorrow!

On another completely different though still sports-related topic, maegashira wrestler Chiyotairyu has suddenly retired mid-tournament! It is customary, I think, for rikishi to hang up their mawashi after a tourney is finished. Chiyotairyu was not injured but apparently, at 34 years of age and down 2-5, had decided he didn't want to fight anymore. Well, so be it!

Apparently he wants to open and manage a yukiniku restaurant! Still hard work, but at least his body is not on the line. Good luck and thanks for all the bouts!