Tag Archives: Miami

Radio silence for 48 hours. Saturday was some day and night. I feel completely rinsed and wrung out after the England vs Norway game. None of what happened did my chest infection any good at all and pretty much knocked me out for the majority of Sunday. We are now headed from Miami to return to Atlanta. Southern hospitality here we come.

But first to that game.

We did a short piece to BBC5live Breakfast ahead of travelling to the match.

A common feature of the stadia out here in the US is that they really are in the middle of nowhere and there is very little if any public transport to them, such is the obsession with the car out here. And so it was the same for Miami. We decided to take the advice from one of Kirsty’s friends who had been to the Scotland vs Brazil game and take a cab up to the Calder Casino near the stadium. From there we could get a shuttle bus to the stadium apparently.

It was exceptionally hot and humid, so Kirsty, Cass and Adrian and I left South Beach at 12.30 to avoid the traffic and also to ensure we could get an Uber, given there were probably some 30,000 fans in the area trying to get to stadium, somewhere between 8-10,000 Ubers would be called upon in a pretty short space of time. It proved to be a very wise move indeed. We got to the casino within 45 minutes and everything was pretty smooth. Other friends went slightly later and spent over two hours in cabs, hugely frustrating all round.

The casino was like all casinos, soulless, windowless and lacking in exit signs. But it was air conditioned and sold beer and thus it provided a welcome haven to loads of football fans. Mark and Sam duly arrived and joined us. We could get a beer easily and food for those who wanted to eat. Perfect.

I was feeling a little below par, my chest infection wasn’t really getting any better, and the heat was insufferable, so I needed to visit the gents. Kirsty had a bad stomach too, and had dosed up on the Imodium as a precaution. On the way there, a big lad came towards me, and I must admit I was a little confused, you may know that feeling when you sort of recognise someone but it’s all a little bit out of context. And so it was, as Karl introduced himself to me and it all clicked. Karl is a big Villa fan who I have worked with on supporter matters across fan groups. It was great to see him, even if I was a little blindsided initially!

Kirsty and I then bumped into Gian, who we hadn’t seen for about 20 years ago when our video games magazine, MCV, filmed its annual Christmas video in a pub in Kensal Rise. That year it was Take That’s ‘Never Forget’. Such a small world. Again.

We left the casino with a couple of hours to spare, and jumped on one of the shuttle buses to the stadium. The buses were those big yellow school ones you see in the films. It was a short hop skip and a jump to the stadium. We had made it in good time and so could relax. We met up with Billy, Spanish Dave, Supes, Bella, Reg, Marc, Neil and Tim.

Our seats were right behind the goal, again, five rows from the front. I would say that the numbers of fans from Norway and England were fairly evenly matched in the ground, maybe slightly more England shirts than Norway, but difficult to really say with certainty. It was getting no cooler mind, so all of the players were going to find it tough to play today.

Incredibly, Jordan Henderson was out complete with his cast on his arm, warming up with his team mates. If ever there was a sign that this team were truly together, there it was right there.

The sun was fully out now to greet the players and the temperature was rising even more. As if it needed to be any hotter and even more humid than it already was!

I have to admit, I was not as nervous as I normally am for this game. I put that down to the fact that we had come as far as I had expected to come, so a win here would be a bonus.

I thought Norway would be more than our match today and it was going to be a 50/50 game. And so it turned out to be. England started in their usual fashion, plenty of possession and little else and Norway sat back and waited. As the game developed it was clear that Norway were going to focus on our wingers, with their full backs and midfielders doubling up to restrict any supply into Harry Kane. Equally the same combinations would break fast and attack our flanks in order to get crosses into Haaland. Indeed it was one of these attacks down our right which led to Norway’s opening goal. As their player crossed the ball, I looked across to see Haaland waiting, only for the ball to hit the inside of our post and go in. It was a cross, no doubt about that and if it had been accurate it would have been headed in.

Gutted. And I felt we were in a bit of trouble now as we approached half time. But then a moment of magic as the ever brilliant Elliot Anderson seemed to find some space and laid a ball into Gordon who played a ball into the equally brilliant Jude Bellingham to drift to the left, beat a couple of their players and slot the ball across the goalie into the far right hand corner of the goal. Absolute scenes, we were back in the game, against the run of play.

Harry Kane then had a goal ruled out for offside, rightly, and we got to half time 1-1. I felt we really needed to up our game in the second half. I think Saka and Eze came on for Rice and Madueke, very much Arsenal off and Arsenal on. But we didn’t up our game and Norway really did. They had a goal ruled out for offside, neither of which we could see how or why, but were told it was a push on Anderson and then they had one off the bar. England were living dangerously although we did have a few decent chances down our end. To be honest, it was all a bit of blur.

Somehow we got to the end of full time and it was still 1-1. For me, we were lucky to get the extra period. But the heat and humidity were worse than ever, so what it must have been like to play beggars belief.

Djed Spence, Morgan Rogers and Reece James came on, I really can’t remember who for and both added to the game for us. Saka and Spence were involved in our second goal which broke for Rogers to take a shot from outside of the area which their goalie parried only for Jude to follow up and score. We were in fantasy land again. How is anyone’s guess but we had scored a crucial goal. I looked at the clock and we still had 25 minutes to play!!

Shortly after that goal, Spence cut through their back line and went down for a penalty. Could this be real? Then VAR was back and the inevitable ‘after review’ ruled the penalty out. To be fair most of the messages I was getting from back home said it was not a penalty.

There were too many messages coming into my phone, but the best ones were from my cousin who was at home watching on TV, worried about mine and Kirsty’s health in this heat but also stressed out by the whole thing. I got a message from the lady looking after Mum to say they were watching and were biting their fingernails. Such is the power of the World Cup when it’s in full flow and the whole of England are watching.

As we got to the second half of extra time, my T-shirt was dripping wet and I really didn’t think I had any liquid left in me to sweat out. Haaland was replaced by Strand Larsen, and I have to admit that made me very happy indeed. No idea why, just happy to see the back of him. I am pretty certain Djed Spence and Saka brought a double save at our end, the atmosphere was both electric and draining. It was end to end stuff and I literally had no idea what day or time it was. As always I had refused to look at the clock once added time went on.

And then the whistle went, it was all over and all of us went absolutely ballistic. We had won another tough game against great opponents. The semi finals of the World Cup awaits, and for me it will be the third semi final I will have been to. Could it be third time lucky?

All there was left was for the whole squad to come to our end and sing Wonderwall and Hey Jude together. This has become a ritual and just shows the bond between us and the players is so strong. Hopefully they see us as the 12th man.

And so we headed back to South Beach. We had to jump on one of the school buses to the casino to get a cab. Both of us were completely and utterly drained and empty. Fortunately we bumped into Neil and Tim who had a cab on its way, which was a proper result as cabs were at a premium. It took an hour to get back and all of us agreed we were completely worn out. We needed food and we needed water.

My chest was truly awful, but such was the stress I had completely forgotten about it until I got in an air conditioned cab.

Billy, Supes, Biscuits and her daughter, Marc, Reg, Adrian, Cass, Spanish Dave, Bella, 51 and Obi joined us for much needed food and drink. I was done. Antibiotics and bed awaited.

Next stop Atlanta and a date with Argentina.

We waved goodbye to the wonderful sights, sounds and people of Mexico City and headed to Miami. Because of the last minute nature of the knockouts, we couldn’t get a cheap flight direct so had to go via Atlanta and take a connecting flight. We had allowed only 90 minutes to get that second flight, which happens to be the minimum amount of time recommended by Delta Airlines. Kirsty was somewhat stressed by this to say the least, me less so. No change there.

At the airport we bumped into Mike Stratford and his son, Ben also on their way to Miami. Mike and Ben were involved with us in a horse, Queen’s Rock, ownership syndicate. What’s the chances of us meeting each other here??

Our flight out of Mexico City was delayed. The stress levels with my partner in crime were therefore rising. We both fell asleep on the flight and woke up just as we were coming into land. To our shock and surprise we were almost on time! Thanks to Kirsty’s power of persuasion, we had got seats right next to the cabin door so we could get off first.

For the first time ever US immigration was a breeze. We sailed through. The people of Atlanta are super friendly and even the immigration team had smiles on their faces. We picked up our luggage, shoved it through the security again, and took the train to the departure gate. We made the flight with 10 minutes to spare and even had time to pick up a sarnie! The gods were smiling on us.

And so to Miami. The neon, palm trees, art deco, fast cars, beaches and football supporters arriving from all over the world make it feel like we’ve stepped into Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. For us though, it was a case of Mission Unlocked Vice City. Objective: Get England into the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Every World Cup has a city that doesn’t quite feel real. In 2002 it was Tokyo. In 2022 it was Doha after dark. In 2026, it’s Miami. Palm trees sway over six-lane highways, Ferraris cruise Ocean Drive, helicopters buzz overhead and football supporters from across the globe descend on South Beach. And to cap it all, we are staying on Ocean Drive, which feels spot on.

We got some sleep and headed out for the France vs Morocco game which we watched at CJ’s Crab Shack.

We met up with Colin who had flown back to the US who then told us he had celebrated his 30th birthday in CJ’s. Again what are the chances of that happening? Marc and Reg dropped in too and we scooped up Adrian, a lovely Chelsea supporting Aussie who was travelling around watching games he had bought tickets for in the hope Australia had got through.

The game was a simple procession for France, running out 2-0 winners and barely breaking sweat. Mbappe and Dembele obliged as usual. This French team are on a different level to everyone else. They seem to have a defence that is everywhere and an attack of at least five players that camp on the edge of opposition’s penalty area capable of cutting inside or outside and getting shots off at will. The only team really capable of beating them is Spain in my book. And France would need a real off day for that to happen.

Post match, we took a stroll up South Beach along the strip with Adrian and popped into a few bars and listened to some live music. It was a very Cuban feel, think Buena Vista Social Club and very, very chilled. Perfect.

We bypassed all the clubs and topped up in a great bar on the strip called The News Cafe. Billy, Supes, Spanish Dave, Marc and Reg found it along with a load more of Billy’s mates all of whom were just lovely.

Billy told me that The News Cafe was where his family had spent time after his Dad’s funeral many years ago, and did the same thing for his Mum’s funeral recently. Another connection in a day of connections and coincidences.

No other way to sum it all up but just another brilliant day and night with brilliant people. Long may that continue.