Both sides’ coverage offered insight and tear-jerking moments but, like the game itself, the result came down to tiny details
While much of the past month has been about falling in love with an England team that represents the best of our modern country, Gary Lineker introduced England v Italy with a line straight from the 1950s. “Shouldn’t you be in church?” Lineker asked the audience. You could almost feel the befuddlement in the nation’s living rooms, alongside a quick check to make sure: it is Sundays when church happens, isn’t it?
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” was, of course, Des Lynam’s intro when England played Tunisia at lunchtime during the 1998 World Cup. It was this sense of a communal experience that Lineker was trying to tap into. Yet for all his expertise and personal charm, there’s always been a sense that the ghost of Lynam’s eloquence still haunts Gary’s dressing room, and it manifested itself on England’s big night.
