Dare I say it? The original song said 30 years of hurt and, believe it or not, that today stands at 58 years of hurt! So is it finally coming home? Who would have thought, the final of the 2024 European Championships would be between my country of birth and the country I’ve lived in for 34 years. So where do my allegiances lie, I hear you ask.
England’s head-to-head record against Spain is played 27, won 14, lost 10 and drew 3. Probably the most memorable was in 1996, in the quarter-finals of the Euros. It was a 0-0 draw and it went to penalties. There was the iconic Stuart Pearce penalty and the David Seaman save from Miguel Angel Nadal, the uncle of Mallorca’s favourite son, Rafa Nadal, meaning England won. In fact, the last time they played together was in 2018 in the UEFA Nations League, and I was there. England won 3-2 in a game played at the Real Betis stadium in Seville.
These are two teams that have made it to the final in totally different ways. Spain have sailed through all of their games, never really looking in trouble, whereas as England have stuttered their way through. Remember England were literally 30 seconds away from going out to Slovakia in the last 16 and along came Jude Bellingham who of course is well known to all the Spanish, playing for Real Madrid.
Spain’s 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who plays for Barcelona, scored possibly the goal of the tournament so far against France. But what I love about him is he said before the tournament began, “I’ve brought my homework because I’m in 4th grade. I have classes on the web and I hope my teacher doesn’t fail me!”
A great example to all youngsters that your education comes before anything.
So who am I supporting? In the words of John Barnes……
“Catch me if you can
‘Cause I’m the England man
And what you’re looking at
Is the master plan.
We ain’t no hooligans,
This ain’t a football song,
Three lions on my chest
I know we can’t go wrong.”
Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com
Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi, or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com
Dad Taxi Mallorca 