Welcome to World Cup semi-finals week.
We England fans are not known for our emotional restraint on these occasions, so let me begin with an apology to friends in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Argentina, Norway… and indeed those who loathe the ubiquity of football.
Right. Good to get that out of the way. Now: permission to get excited.
World Cup semi-finals shouldn’t need hyperbole. Still, this is a grudge match like few others in international football.
For England, their rivalry is sporting – the injustices of 1986 and 1998, then that vindication at the boot of David Beckham, four years later.
