We were lucky

It was a penalty. For Ghana. But apparently I am wrong, and I am glad I am wrong as England would have lost. Ghana played well and England was not varied enough for most of the game to adapt. With taller players than ours, sending balls into the box for them to head away was not a good idea.

Towards the end of the game, players who could dribble past others were played, notably Eze and Saka and it appeared to make a difference. But the pace of Ghana was a big issue for us.  Hopefully this is a learning experience for our manager and team, one which will take us to lifting the trophy.

My sweepstake team, Uzbekistan did not do well and my hopes for them playing England in the final appear very unlikely. 

Family wise, we spent most of today at the villa, going for a swim and a drive. My daughter had some work to do, so we left her to it.  The holiday continues to relax us. 

Restaurante Bica Velha

Another relaxing day. My wife and I woke a lot later than the children. We talked about what we could do and I ended up taking my wife for a drive along memory lane. I had hoped to visit Praia dos Caneiros but it was not to be. 

Later we returned to Loulé for dinner. While the rest of my family have enjoyed many great meals, because I am squeamish about sea food, I have not. But Restaurante Bica Velha has given me the best meal at a restaurant in Portugal so far. My son booked it, we are glad and may return. The picture, edited with an app is of part of the town, on the way to where I parked our car.

On a different note, my wife has not been too happy with the resignation of Starmer. For the record, she has not been his number one fan and we have had many a discussion about what she thinks is wrong with his policies, but she and I agree that he has done a lot for the nation. The country was in a much worse position when he took over and while there is a lot to do, so much has been done. We both agree that we want the economy to be better, but it is still doing well compared to our peers. Thanks to Starmer, not counting Israel and the USA, the UK is respected again across the globe. The NHS is in a better place as well. I just hope that these improvements continue once Starmer is evicted from 10 Downing Street. 

Fathers Day 2026 and D’alena Restaurante

Today is Father’s Day, and in our family another important celebration. My wife had booked a restaurant for lunch with amazing views and fantastic cocktails. If you visit, see Vinnie.

The food looked as spectacular as the view, though it was a bit hard to find on Google Maps. Fortunately we did not obey the instructions and found it anyway. 

Loulé and the Saturday market

This morning, we travelled to Loulé, a nearby city to visit the Saturday market.  It was a very enjoyable day. My daughter and I got to visit the castle, the family tried some seafood (not me) and we took in some of the sights. We may return again, but there are other areas to explore. 

O Retiro

My wife found this place for somewhere to eat outside. Parking is available, but is interesting to use. In fact I ended up going for a drive to park. Basically you essentially park part-blocking the pavement, and while you can do so driving in to park, I prefer to reverse park as it is easier to leave. The food is nice in this restaurant and it has an interesting view. Would I return? Yes. I suspect my family would agree, 

Come on England!

What a game. And what a day. Family first. We are now in Portugal. I finished work late on Tuesday and was not around when Leia was dropped off at the dog sitter we use in Ipswich. My daughter said that she whined as she was being left. Yesterday, we woke up early to be driven down to Gatwick. I slept most of the way in the back of the taxi, to the annoyance of our children.  My wife and I split up from the children, they getting drinks in a different part of the airport to us. We were also separated for the flight, which again, I slept through. My wife has booked our stay and it is amazing, but I have been bitten, lots.

Anyway, the football. I worked out how to use the TV and watched a lot of the match on RTÉ and I have to say, they analyse football better than British pundits. An example of this was with the goal by Jude Bellingham. Noni Madueke provided the pass for the goal, but also, importantly, made a run afterwars which stressed the Croatian defence and their goalkeeper as Bellingham could have crossed it too him. RTÉ noted this, the off the ball run by Croatia being missed by the British pundits for their goal. While pundits blame our defence, the runs by Croatia were good and I am not sure there was a right decision to be made at the time by our defenders. This means that while I can watch ITV and BBC coverage here, I will stick with RTÉ.  

Labour, UNISON and workers rights

Listening to the radio, I was surprised to hear that the leader on Unison has said been "handing money over to the Labour Party and getting absolutely nothing in return" as Labour have brought about changes to employment rights. It is fashionable to bash Starmer, but doing this plays to the stance of Reform UK Ltd that they represent workers. 

The facts are simple. Labour have improved workers rights, Reform have promised to abolish the changes. If Unsion want a Reform UK government after the next General Election, they need to keep forgetting how Labour have not done absolutely nothing for workers.  While I understand that unions want more done, union leaders need to tell workers what Labour have done for employment rights now, or they will lose them after Farage gets elected in 2029.