A knack for it

When English sportsmen and their teams lose (which is quite often, when you consider sports like football, tennis, cricket though the trend has been reversed somewhat in Test cricket and rugby), their post-match laments will almost inevitably contain the words "gutted" and "knackered". These are quite appropriate phrases and I quite fancy them, for they do convey exactly how someone can feel in these situations.

The England-Portugal Euro 2004 quarter-final left not only the players "knackered", but the audiences as well. The match simply refused to end, and each twist had a hairpin bend ahead to contend with. I rarely sit up till 3 a.m. for a football match, but this was extremely compelling. Somehow, history shows that if it can happen, it will happen to the English soccer team.