Dear Newsletter Readers (those of the regular and not so regular variety),
I hope you are all fighting fit and welcome again to another edition of our newsletter.
Well, this time last week I was hoping that the English soccer team would beat Ukraine to get through to the semi-final of the Euro 2020 soccer championship, which I am happy to report they did do and rather convincingly as well with a 4 – 0 win. After Ukraine, England faced Denmark in the semi-final and although the game was rather physical and at times quite evenly matched England showed a strength and character that normally eludes them and they won 2-1 in extra time. Denmark opened the scoring with a fantastic free kick just outside the 18 yard box which in the past would have rocked England to the point of them giving up and losing the game, but going one goal behind fired the English team up and they snatched an equalizer about 10 minutes later. England managed to get another goal in the first half of extra time to take the score line to 2-1 and that was pretty much it. Denmark continued to try to level up the game; they had one or two chances, but England were just too strong and capable on the night and when the final whistle went England had booked their place in a final of a soccer tournament for the first time in 55 years.
England will play Italy in the final this coming Sunday night at Wembley Stadium in front of about 60,000 mostly English fans. After doing a bit of checking, I found that since 1933 England and Italy have played each other a total of 27 times, 9 games have been drawn, England has won 8 and Italy has won 10. I am expecting the game to be a tight one as Italy have played well all the way through the tournament, but I think England’s newly found confidence and the belief the players seem to have in themselves should win through at the end of the day. I am just hoping that the game is a good one and we see an English performance that will be remembered for a very long time. If England win the Euro 2020 competition they will be able to say quite proudly that they are once again a force to be reckoned with on the world football stage : Come on England, you can do it!
Until next week, keep safe and have a nice weekend.
Masking the truth
It’s never very clear at all.
In pursuing clarity in this society we stumble and fall.
Down on the ground expected to become lost and remain unfound.
The culture and social norms here prefer far to near.
The telling of lies avoids conflicts, confusion and fear.
No need to bury their heads in their hands to cry.
A mastery of knowing through only nuances how much truth there is in the lie.
Frightened of feeling shame but not of committing such acts themselves.
A poem by Stephen Austwick.