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World Cup diary, day 16: England and Belgium play out bizarre scene to divide opinion
This was the game I had been waiting for for much of the trip. Having to follow England around is not always enjoyable, but I was relishing the meeting with another European big hitter, Belgium, in the bizarre location of Kaliningrad.
There were so many stipulations and eventualities to consider going into the top-spot decider that not even Kaliningrad native philosopher Immanuel Kant – who spent his life trying to explain some of the most complicated theories in existence – could have gotten his head around.
On the same points and goal difference, it would then come down to fair play, and if that finished even, then lots would be drawn in the press room at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Urgh.
England fans did arrive en masse, mainly hopping over the border from Gdansk, but they were very subdued. The police presence was certainly playing its part, but the atmosphere remained very light hearted and one free of the threat of violence.
Before the match, I heard about a football tournament going on at the old Baltika Kaliningrad stadium, so went down to check it out.
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Organised by the Russia Fans’ Embassy, it was in fact a match between Belgium, England and Baltika (a Russian second-tier side) fans, with a proper referee, prizes and post-match entertainment.
They have been doing it in every host city, to encourage fans to mingle with other fans from all over the world. Lovely. How did England do? Lost twice, of course.
The football, though, was in fact of a more competitive nature than the main event at the Kaliningrad Stadium.
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Gareth Southgate and Roberto Martinez – who pretty much admitted in his pre-match press conference that Belgium did not want to win the game – made 17 changes between them, and it made for a limp spectacle.
Boos rung out from all around as Belgium went from side to side, and England allowed them to do such. Avoiding Argentina, Portugal, France and Brazil’s side of the draw was the priority, which meant finishing second in the group.
It was just so disappointing to see. The match was the antithesis of what the World Cup is about, and really, I mean really, can England really think about getting any further than the last eight regardless?
Yellow cards were getting cheered by Belgians, as they were “leading” in the fair play race for second. It was just bizarre.
Fortunately, Adnan Januzaj did not read the script, scoring a delectable winner, which Martinez will not have been pleased with.
Job done, so England threw on Danny Welbeck instead of Harry Kane in search of an equaliser – that said it all.
Trying to explain the scene was a rather difficult task for us all in our post-match analysis pieces – who was the real winner? Not journalists, that’s for sure.
And, to compete is truly odd evening, two of the old guard press pack, who shall remain nameless, ended up kicking off, with a cry of “outside, now” audible from all around. Oh, what a night.
