Today spectators at PlayFootball were treated to the England squad's training session ahead of the fourth and final quarter final clash with Italy tonight. MADs (mums and dads) watched on in wonder as the squad practised penalties and played cat'n'mouse before playing a full game. Maxley Cole-Messenger showed off his speed by winning cat'n'mouse. Onlookers were surprised not to see captain Gary Neville, I mean Robert Higgins, choose brother Phil, I mean John, for his team. He did swap over later. Ben "Vinnie" Jones-Curtis was chosen for his ability to take everyone and the ball out, as was Louie Hart for goalie due to his ability to fill a goal. The referee should've been Madame Gazelle, but she was resting after a hectic week refereeing a handball tournament, so the job was taken by one of her assistants, Miss Rabbit.
On the final whistle, the game ended 5-3 to our boys. Gary scored a Patrick, Phil two goals and Vinnie one goal. (We can't quite work that one out either.) Vinnie didn't do any dirty tackles this game, his trainer didn't need to come armed with spare shin pads. Hart did get a bit of turf in his eye later on. After play, lunch was served and the boys sang happy birthday to Gary Neville.
Let's hope this is a good omen for the key clash tonight. Come on England!