Last night the BBC chose to show Brazil v Japan rather than the simultaneous Australia v Croatia. This was pretty disappointing because even though Japan took an unlikely early lead, it was obvious that Japan needed to rely on the other result and then score a hatful against Brazil to get through.
I was watching Australia v Crotia in a pub and it was a much livelier affair. Croatia needed a win and Australia just a draw. So when Croatia took an early lead the many Australians in the pub were a little disappointed. On a nearby table was a group of Croatian girls, so we decided to side with them (actually it was one Croatian and her Swedish mates). So when Australia equalised for a second time, a big Australian bloke decided to almost pick a fight with me for not supporting Australia. Something to do with us both being in the Commonwealth or something.
I didn’t bother getting into why the English are always likely to prefer the other side to Australia – if only to wind up a sports mad nation. In fact, I was pretty neutral in reality, and was only cheering Croatia because the Croat girl was really pretty.
So there it is then. My allegiance can be bought by whoever has the prettiest fans.
I see that the ratings for BBC 3 are some of the best they’ve had with that game.