Euro 2020

So, today marks the start of Scotland's campaign at Euro 2020, our first major tournament (in the men's game) for decades. And today's game represents our best chance of racking up some points... with even one win likely being enough to qualify from the group. This is, already, the big one! (Though the game against England is also "the big one", albeit for very different reasons.)

Honestly, though, I'm not too bothered. We've already over-achieved just by getting to the tournament, so provided we don't suffer any outright humiliations I'm actually happy regardless of the results. Getting out of the group would represent our greatest result ever, and the odds of getting any further than that are minimal anyway, even if the impossible were to happen. So...

Meanwhile...

I've only "seen" two of the matches thus far. Obviously, I was quite glad to see Wales gain a draw in their first match, and wish them well.

As regards England, I thought they gave a perfectly creditable performance - they did what they needed to do, they got themselves a win, and there weren't any glaring weaknesses that I could see. It wasn't a steamroller, but that's fine.

In the past, I've felt that it's been obvious right from the first game that England weren't going to win the thing. Usually, they do okay, win the group by virtue of being by far the biggest team there, progress a few rounds, and then meet a really good team (usually by the quarter-finals; definitely by the semis), and then go out.

I didn't get that feeling this time. I thought that this was a team that, you know, was actually in with a shot. That said, I also didn't get the feeling that this was an invincible team. My gut feeling is that several teams will likely think they're in with a shout of winning this thing, and England are one of them. Which is fair enough.

Scotland, of course, aren't one of the teams with a realistic belief we could win it. But that's fine. I'm jus glad to be there.

#26: "Children of Húrin", by J.R.R. Tolkien

#27: "Sharpe's Fortress", by Bernard Cornwell