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England 1-1 Germany (2-1 aet)

Women’s European Football Championship 2022, Final, Wembley Stadium, 31/7/22.

So, England’s women footballers have done something the men have not. Won a Euros.

This was a tight, absorbing game, fiercely contested between two well organised, well drilled and skillful sides, who both had periods of dominance.

Not much by way of expansive football, though, the two midfields kind of cancelling each other out.

The first goal was a delight. Even though the keeper’s advancement in effect made up Ella Toone’s mind for her the chip still had to be executed perfectly. And it was.

Germany’s equaliser was beautifully worked and excellently taken by Lena Magull. At that point the momentum could have swung behind them, but England saw it out to extra time.

The winner was scrappy. But they all count.

Who knows the difference a fit Alexandra Popp might have made to Germany? England’s defence looked more uncomfortable in this game than in previous ones, even the quarter-final against Spain when they fell behind. But that is as it should be. This was a final. In any case those are the breaks.

England’s coach, Sarina Wiegman, has a reputation for being a tactical genius. She certainly knows how to deploy substitutes and apparently has her side primed for what to do in any eventuality. On the evidence of this tournament though (albeit only in the one game) her tactic for being one behind with ten minutes to go is to put the big lass up front and get it up to her or at least allow her to distract the defence. (Mind you, according to Gary Lineker, that was Johan Cryuff’s preferred option in similar circumstances.)

Finally, it is to be hoped that this will not be harped on forever in the way a certain event which occurred in 1966 has been.

2022 World Cup Qualifying

Gosh, it comes round again.

The draw for the European qualification round for the 2022 World Cup (to be held in Qatar) was made today.

Scotland’s fate could have been worse I suppose – we managed to avoid holders France, world ranked no 1 Belgium and also Spain, England, Germany, Italy and Portugal, nemeses in previous qualification campaigns, but Denmark, Austria and Israel (yet again drawn in a group with Scotland) are no mugs; and I always get the fear over games against countries like the Faroe Islands and Moldova.

Our last two games were 1-0 defeats too let’s not forget, but I’ll give the team a pass on those as they were hungover (in the nicest sense I hasten to add) from managing to reach the Euro finals.

Rochdale Town Hall, Stained Glass

One of the striking features of Rochdale Town Hall’s interior is the stained glass windows many of which feature portraits of the Kings and Queens of England.

The windows flanking the entrance though have stained glass representations of the coats of arms of European countries, here Greece, France, Belgium, Turkey, Russia and Portugal:-

Rochdale Town Hall, Stained Glass Windows 1

The other such window betrays the building’s age. Coats of arms for Sweden & Norway, Prussia, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark and Austria. Note Sweden & Norway, as was (they separated in 1905) and Prussia which, subsumed the rest of Germany in 1871.

Stained Glass Window, Rochdale Town Hall

Grand staircase:-

Rochdale Town Hall Staircase

This is a closer view showing the stained glass window on the half-landing to greater effect.

Rochdale Town Hall, Stained Glass

Counterproductive Tactics

What a spectacular misjudgement the Spanish government made in their response to the referendum in Catalonia.

Yes it did not have official sanction and therefore was illegal but to send in riot police and beat up citizens is not going to win over voters. It may have the diametrically opposite effect.

In a similar vein, if you wish to convince the citizens of a country with whose head of state you have a dispute to get rid of him themselves and that you are not a threat to those citizens in the way he claims then it isn’t perhaps the wisest pronouncement to say you will totally destroy said country.

Buildings in Ferrol

On the way in to Ferrol from the ship we passed an area known as Arsenal Militar. A mannequin recalled Spain’s military past. Here’s a photo with some beardy bloke beside it:-

Soldier Mannequin

Ferrol seems to be laid out in a grid pattern though the streets are not wide. This was at siesta time when the streets emptied:-

asiesta time

A square in Ferrol:-
Old and New

The building to the left of the square in the photo above has an odd mixture of architectural styles. See the glass gable-end:-

Odd Mix of Architectural Styles, Ferrol

It was also hard by what may be a memorial to Spain’s colonial wars (if I can trust my reading of the Spanish inscription.) It was in the middle of a busy road so I didn’t linger long:-

Colonial War Memorial, Ferrol

You know you’re not in Calvinist Scotland any more when you come across a statue like this in an otherwise perfectly normal street. (Hooded penitents are apparently a big part of Holy Week celebrations in Ferrol.):-

Hooded Penitent Statue, Ferroll

Ferrol, Galicia, Spain

Ferrol, or El Ferrol, in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, was known for forty-four years as El Ferrol del Caudillo as it was the birthplace, in 1892, of dictator Francisco Franco. Curiously, in some sort of political karmic equalistion it was also the birthplace of the founder of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Pablo Iglesias, in 1850.

The town is a mixture of ancient and modern with the older parts near to the harbour.

This is a stitch of three photos taken from the ship at berth:-
Ferrol from Ship's Berth

Ferrrol has been a shipbuilding town since the time of the early Bourbon kings of Spain, capital of the Spanish Navy’s Maritime Department of the North. This looked like an aircraft carrier:-

Aircraft Carrier in Dock at Ferrol

Another naval ship:-

Naval Ship Docked in Ferrol

These buildings were hard by the harbour:-

Sea Front Building, Ferrol, Galicia, Spain

Older Fortification and Newer Buildings, Ferrol

Avilés, Asturias, Spain

The photograph below is of a colourful bridge which is the second part of the direct pedestrian access to the Centro Niemeyer from Avilés town and which we used in the afternoon. Another (curved) walkway leading to a small park (once you cross the railway and the road on shore) lies behind. We used that one to get to the town in the morning:-

Colourful Bridge, Avilés, Asturias, Spain

View of buildings in Avilés taken from the from same vantage point as the photo above. There were men precariously at work on the roof of the building which has blue sheeting on its gable! (just to left of centre of photo.):-

Avilés From Bridge to Town

Balconies were a feature of lots of buildings in Avilés. Also spot the street sculpture in the roadway below the yellow/mustard coloured building and the mural beyond:-

Balconies, Sculpture and Gable-end Mural

As we were walking through the town a local heard us speaking English and kindly directed us to an example of what is apparently a traditional kind of Asturian building. On wooden stilts! It was the only one of its kind we saw though:-

a4 poster 1

Avilés has lots of old buildings like this church, Parroquia de San Nicolás de Bari de Avilés:-

Panorama of Church

The City Hall is much more recent though:-

City Hall, Avilés

Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

The first thing that strikes you as you look from a ship in dock at Avilés, Asturias, Spain, is the stunning set of Modernist buildings below which collectively make up the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre or Centro Niemeyer.

Stitch of two photos:-
Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

View looking back from the walkway to the town, Reflections in the Ria de Avilés:-

Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

Closer View showing stylised flower sculpture:-
Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, by Ria de Avilés

Dome and Auditorium (curved building):-
Detail, Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

Auditorium with “stick” horse:-
Close View, Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

Stairway and vents:-
Stairway and Vents, Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

Tower:-

Tower, Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

Dome, SS Black Watch in background:-

Dome, Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, Avilés

“Stick” horse detail:-
Horse Detail, Oscar Niemeyer Centre, Avilés

Stylised flowers, Avilés in background:-

Stylised Flowers, Oscar Niemeyer Centre

Dome and Tower:-
Dome and Tower, Oscar Niemeyer Centre

Flowers and Avilés:-

Niemeyer Stylised Flowers

Low rise building. (It’s multi-purpose. It seemed to house the restaurant/café):-

Low Rise Building, Oscar Niemeyer Centre, Avilés

Auditorium reverse angle:-
Curved Building, Oscar Niemeyer Centre, Avilés

Auditorium and tower:-

Curved Building and Tower

Edited to add: Actually on closer inspection that “stick” horse may be a “stick” woman.

Getxo, Port of Bilbao

Getxo is in the Biscay Province of the autonomous region of the Basque Country, in northern Spain. Nowadays it acts as the port for Bilbao. More ships can moor there than can make it up the river to Bilbao itself. The day we were there we took an organised coach-trip into Bilbao to make sure we would see the Guggenheim Museum. The photos I took through the coach windows all have a slight greenish tinge as a result.

There are some fantastic buildings on Getxo sea-front, built, we were told, by English people who came to make their fortunes in the 19th century.

This one had some deco styling:-

aGetxo 2

Impressive building (and hedging):-

aGetxo 3

Deco elements to the chimney stacks here (and some rule of three):-
Sea Front Building, Getxo

Old wall, newer buildings:-
More of Sea-front, Getxo

Curious rounded elements to the left here like car park ramps or fortifications:-
aGetxo 5

They are just balconies, though:-
aGetxo 10

Exit. (England 1-2 Iceland)

Euro 2016, Round of 16, Stade de Nice, 27/6/16.

It’s hard not to think that there’s some sort of karma about this result. After England voting to leave the EU (loosely referred to as Europe) its football team has just departed Europe unwillingly.

The commentator on ITV called it a humiliation and also used the word embarrassment. The unspoken assumption (though it was all but articulated) was that England should always be beating Iceland.

Well; to anyone who had watched Iceland’s group games this was no surprise. Iceland are supremely well organised, the players know what they’re supposed to be doing and play for the team and each other. They drew with Portugal and group winners Hungary and then beat Austria, well fancied before the tournament began. If that wasn’t sufficient warning as to what to expect what would be? Using words such as embarrassment and humiliation is extremely disrespectful to a group of players who work their socks off and have no little ability. I expect France will also find it hard to break them down in the next round.

Iceland know their limitations and strengths, and play to them; as a team. The same was true of Italy earlier in what was a magnificent team performance against Spain.

In this respect it is also hard to resist the temptation to remark that English football commentators have an inflated idea of the worth of their country’s footballers based on club performances. Just reflect, not one of those players is good enough to play for an overseas team. They appear effective at club level only because they are surrounded by foreign players who make them look good. And the clubs of the league they play in have not made too much of a splash in the so-called Champions League of late. (OK, Liverpool made the final of the Europa League this season but that was mostly due to foreigners, manager included.)

England’s most penetrative player tonight was an 18 year old who was only brought on to the pitch when it was far too late and has in any case not yet had the enthusiasm and any latent talent knocked out of him by unwarranted expectation.

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