And while we’re at it...

Before euro 2016 began, there was a little round of nostalgia for england’s trip to the semi-finals at the 1996 european Championship — immediately followed by a cynical backlash. england didn’t play that well; Holland were in disarray; it wasn’t as good as it was cracked up to be; england only reached the semi-finals. Moan, moan, moan. Now you know why people still get excited about a place in the last four 20 years ago — because to have a coherent england team involved in the final week of a major tournament is a rare occurrence indeed.