Rollercoaster of emotions
Today was the day that I thought we’d do it. For the first time in 8 years I actually believed that England would progress to the Semi-Finals of the World Cup. It seemed that we had our best team ever with the likes of David Beckham captaining the side, Wayne Rooney in formidable form and a solid defense.
As I sat down to watch the first half and then the second half without any score, I began to feel the nerves kicking in. Then things started to go pear-shaped. Wayne Rooney was sent off for a minimalist push on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and David Beckham was substituted due to injury.
Extra time was full of England hanging on by a thread with 10 men, although we were undoubtedly playing with more ease and flow. Then after 120 minutes of football, the referee blew the whistle to signal a penalty shootout: Portugal scored, England missed, Portugal missed, England scored we were all experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions. Then we missed again and we saw Portgual needing one more goal to clinch the match. The infamous Ronaldo walked up and slotted it past the English keeper.
It was at that moment that I felt like crying! Although I didn’t all of the England players were understandably devasted, as they had waited 4 years for a chance to lift the World Cup. 40 years on from 1966 and the World CUp still is not ours.
Today was a day of joy then sadness and one which I thought I should share with you. Life’s not always peaches and cream, you win some you lose some, and today just was not our day.