The journey time between Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon is around 55 minutes and covers a distance of around 13 miles. Both the vital places remained in the news for different matches. Strange yet true that rivals at both the venues were Italian players. Though one was a football match and another was a tennis game.
As the crowds streamed down Wembley way, there was news of doors scurried and fences darted, fans without tickets were craving for a spot at the table.
“Wembley was a beautiful spectacle, the grass a deep lime green, the huge open tiers throbbing with bodies, flags, banners, people blinking in the lights, as though struggling to believe this waking dream,” writes Barney Ronay, a journalist describing the scenic charm of the stadium.
The oddity remains Italy beat England in a football match while a Serbian defeated an Italian in a thrashing tennis tournament. Italy won at the venue called Wembley while Italy licked the defeat at Wimbledon. However, the football match continued for 120 minutes, whereas the tennis game went on for a considerably longer time.
Is it not odd to think that the defeat timings stand far more than the journey time between the famous sporting venues. The host France too had lost the Euro final against Portugal in 2016.
England’s seventh game of this tournament was a wonderfully full-blooded occasion. What will be after England’s defeat by merely one goal at the hands of Italy in Euro 2020? Then appeared that elegant ultimate twist and doom that was perceived as terrible as loss ever but relatively unlike the climax.
Ending its trophy drought, Italy becomes the most decorated football team now. England, despite reaching their first final since 1966, could not achieve the honour despite being so near. Although England made a goal within two minutes, yet its strong hopes were dashed in a penalty shoot-out.
The moot question now is: Does the idea of Knighthood for team managers, players and bid for the 2030 World Cup in England stay? Will Gareth Southgate, an OBE in the year 2019 after playing the first semi-finals since his shady penalty miss in the year 1996 against Germany, receive a CBE now?
Will England’s players be honoured in line with the 2005 Ashes winners? Will the British Cabinet Office now shy away from rewarding them? Further, will the British PM Boris Johnson try confidently for a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup by England and Ireland?
With the defeat of England, the logic behind tender by a single European country for the 2030 World Cup, which UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, stressed, becomes more relevant in protecting the split of vote. His full-fledged support is vital to the winning country, as reported.
Will Boris’ January pledge that he would pump £2.8m towards a joint bid for the game continue? In a March interview, the Prime Minister insisted on bringing football home in the year 2030. Will his assertions still be on his agenda?
The bid for the 2030 World Cup may catch momentum with time, but this was undeniably a dominant disappointment for England. They were so near yet so far. In the history of the football tournament, England has been able to gain a victory only thrice in the tournament.