Spain and England in the final

Today I was supporting the Netherlands alongside one of my cats, hoping that football would still not be coming home. 

So it was with great happiness that we saw the Dutch get an early lead from a splendid long-range kick by Xavi Simons, and great expectations to my cat as well as the thousands of orange fans in Dortmund.

But only ten minutes later England was given a penalty kick by the referee and VAR. It was not a big obvious penalty kick, and VAR gives no answer as to whether it was indeed a penalty kick; that said, after a review, the referee called a penalty, and Harry Kane was unforgiving.

As grudging as it is to accept, England was playing well, and the score was not unfair as we approached halftime with the tied score. Someone who was happy, besides the many annoying English fans, was my other cat, who in his young rebellious streak had decided to support England.

He was not a popular cat, and will probably get no food later.

Halftime went well for the Netherlands, although England also defended well, and as the second half advanced with nerves among the fans and my cats, we started to plan for extra time when England pulled one of those crazy late goals that they appear to have patented for this tournament. Substitute Ollie Watkins, the Aston Villa striker, scored a splendid goal in the 90th minute, and that was simply enough to take them to their second consecutive Euro final, but one where they are certainly not favourites as they will face a Spanish side that defeated France 2-1, and where the young Lamine Yamal is on fire!

So English fans and my one cat are happy, while my other cat has decided never to watch football again: