New FIFA rule

To cover themselves against decisions made by blind Uruguayans, FIFA have introduced this new rule.

Dempsey and Makepeace

I have still have the hots for Harriet Makepeace. Brilliant theme too.

St David's - Day 7

Big walk today - biggest and last of our trip to Pembrokeshire.  We caught the bus to Solva then walked back as far as Porth Clais then inland to St David's - 7.5 miles in total.

Dinner was at the Farmer's as it was quiz night.  What a shambles!  The quizmaster accidentally gave away three of the answers and at least five of the questions were about rugby or Tom Jones.  Total crap quiz.  Lucky the pub does good food and beer!

Heading off to Hay-On-Wye tomorrow.

St David's - Day 6

Another mostly fine day weatherwise.  We caught the bus to Abereiddi then walked to Porthgain (where we had lunch) before carrying on to Trefin.

We did get rained on for the last 10 minutes - this problem was compounded when we discovered that there was a 40 minute wait for the bus and the only pub was shut!  Ah well, the rain soon stopped.

The plan was to have fish and chips but, even though they told us they opened from 11-9 every day, when we went at 8.30 they were closed.  So it was off to the Farmer's Arms, our new local.

St David's - Day 5

The rain has gone away - we could see it in the distance but it kept in the distance.

Today we caught the 'Puffin Shuttle' to Newgale which has a massive, virtually empty beach from where we walked to Solva.

It was only 4.5 miles along the cliff tops but it seemed a lot further.  In the first mile we had to climb up to 200ft, then down to less than 50ft, then up, then down about three or four times.  We were kn***ered!  In the picture to the left, I'm about to head down to the valley floor and then up again to the plateau in the background.  By the time we arrived at Solva we were ready for a drink and headed straight for the Harbour Inn (another GBG tick).  We had a little bit of time to look round then we caught the bus back to St David's.

Keren foolishly allowed me to choose where we had dinner tonight so it was off back to the local curry house for a lamb vindaloo.  Went down very well.

3 days to go

There is only one Edison Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele. The legendary Brazilian played in four World Cups and picked up winners’ medals on three occasions, an achievement unmatched in world football.

The first of his medals came in 1958 when, as an unknown 17-year-old, Pele burst into the limelight, smashing records and goals alike.

He became the youngest player to score in the tournament (v Wales QF), the youngest to player to score a hat-trick (v France SF) and the youngest player to score in a Final (v Sweden) and finished with six goals.

In 1962 injury conspired to keep Pele playing beyond the second game of the tournament and he was a spectator as his team-mates went on to lift the Trophy for a second time.

The ’66 tournament saw England break Brazil’s monopoly on the title, while many of Brazil’s opposition looked to break Pele.

Some serious foul play against the South American curtailed their bid for a third successive title, but it would be Pele who would have the last laugh, when he ended his World Cup career with victory in 1970.

It was a fitting finale for one of the greatest players the game has ever seen.

St David's - Day 4

It had to happen eventually, we are in Wales after all, today it rained... all day.  However, we are British and were undaunted so, out came the waterproofs and on with the show.

We did tailor our activities to the weather.  The start of the day saw a full Welsh breakfast in town followed by a trip to the barbers for a tuppenny all off (me, not Keren).  We looked around a few of the shops and marvelled at how expensive outdoor gear is.  Then we bought and wrote postcards over a cuppa in the Grove Hotel.

It was then back into the rain to a couple a small art galleries before we headed for St David's mediaeval Bishop's Palace (one of the largest in Britain don't you know) where we learnt all about Bishop de Gower aka the 'Builder Bishop' and his impressive legacy.

We're now at home with a glass of wine and will be heading out later for dinner at the Cross Hotel.  Who cares about a bit of rain?

4 days to go

A World Cup Final is the pinnacle of any player’s career but when nerves are frayed and emotions are running high it can sometimes prove difficult to maintain a professional focus, and when that happens some players start to see red.

The first sending off in a Final was Argentina’s Perdo Monzon in the disappointing 1990 showpiece against Germany. It had taken 60 years for that moment to arrive but, like buses, 22 minutes later Monzon’s team-mate Gustavo Dezotti also got his marching orders.

Eight years later France’s Marcel Desailly was sent from the field with his side 2-0 up over Brazil. Thankfully for Les Bleus it didn't damage their chances too much, as they went on to win 3-0.

However, without question, the most high profile of the four players to have been dismissed in a Final was another Frenchman, Zinedine Zidane.

Deep into extra-time and with a penalty shoot-out looming as his side drew 1-1 with Italy, Zidane inexplicably head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the chest to earn himself an instant red card and ultimately dash any hopes of ending a remarkable career on the perfect high.

St David's - Day 3

We're being really lucky with the weather... so far.  There were a few clouds about this morning but they soon disappeared to reveal another glorious day.

We got the 'Celtic Coaster' minibus service from St David's to Whitesands beach (you can just see it in the centre of the picture above) - it's a beautiful sandy beach which was very popular today with surfers, kiters, sandcastlers and general beach-based merriment.  From Whitesands, we followed the Pembrokeshire Coast Path to the North as far as St David's Head (top left in the above picture), where stopped for a picnic.  Then we continued East and then South in a big loop back to Whitesands.

After a restorative burger and chips we carried on South as far as St Justinian's where we were able to pick up the Celtic Coaster again to bring us back to St David's.  We did around 5.5 miles in total.  Finished off the day with a takeaway curry and a few games of Boggle.  We're easily pleased.

St David's - Day 2

It's been another gloriously warm day in Wales (now there's a sentence you don't hear very often!).

Today, we have visited St David's Cathedral which was very impressive.  A orchestra and choir were practising for the final concert in the Cathedral's summer festival - so we got a free performance.

We also went to the Tourist Information Centre and picked up some bus timetables and other leaflets.  They have an art gallery there with work by local artists so we also had a look round there.

We were obviously tired from these exertions so found time for an ice-cream at Gianni's.  Home-made using local milk they were very good.  I had Sugar Doughnut flavour - tomorrow I'm having Lager!

Finished off the day with a very nice dinner at Jones' - a small, friendly restaurant in the middle of St David's.  Great day and hopefully the start of many more.

5 days to go

You don’t get classed as the world’s greatest footballing nation without a few facts backing it up; like winning the World Cup five times, for example.

That is exactly what Brazil have managed to achieve since they entered the inaugural tournament in 1930, lifting the famous Jules Rimet Trophy in 1958, ’62 and ’70 and its successor, the World Cup Trophy, in ’94 and ’02, making them the most successful nation in World Cup history.

They are also the only country to have participated in every finals since their inception, as well as producing more tournament top scorers (five) than any other nation.

Despite their superiority the Samba Boys still, no doubt, harbour one regret and that is being the only World Cup-winning nation not to have triumphed on home soil. They hosted the 1950 edition and narrowly missed out on claiming the title with a 2-1 loss to Uruguay in the final match.

St David's

Had an overnight stay in Gloucester where we had a very nice couple of pints in the Fountain Inn (another tick in the Good Beer Guide).
Arrived in St David's at about 4pm after lunch in Pendine and a visit to the Museum Of Speed.
Our apartment, a converted forge, is beautifully decorated and the town looks very nice. Currently having a pint of Rhymney sat in the garden of the Farmer's Arms (also in the GBG of course!).

6 days to go

The 1962 World Cup in Chile provided the unusual statistic of seeing six joint winners of the Golden Shoe award.

Garrincha (Brazil), Vava (Brazil), Leonel Sanchez (Chile), Drazan Jerkovic (Yugoslavia), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union) and Florian Albert (Hungary) all notched four strikes – the lowest total in World Cup history to win the coveted prize – and accounted for 24 of the 89 goals scored that tournament.

Albert’s effort was perhaps the best, bagging his tally in just three matches, while Sanchez and Jerkovic took six games to reach their total. One of Vava’s strikes came in the 3-1 victory over Czechoslovakia in the Final.

Surprisingly, the Golden Shoe has only been shared on one other occasion, in 1994 when Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov and Russia’s Oleg Salenko both scored six goals.

7 days to go

Wearing a small star above the crest on your international shirt is a privilege held by an elite few.

Only seven countries have won the World Cup and therefore sport the coveted motif and England is of course lucky enough to be one of them.

The other winners are: Brazil (5 times), Italy (4 times), Germany (three times), Argentina (2 times), Uruguay (2 times) and France (1).

The only anomaly in this regard is Uruguay, who actually wear four gold stars – two for their World Cup wins and two in commemoration of their Olympic triumphs in 1924 and ’28.

The success of those tournaments actually prompted FIFA to launch the World Cup in 1930.

8 days to go

Scotland have appeared in eight World Cup finals and have been involved in some fantastic matches over the years – remember Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal in the 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in 1978?

However, despite several victories, the Tartan Army have never managed to progress beyond the first round of any of their eight finals, a World Cup record.

Perhaps the most upsetting aspect for the Scots is that on three occasions – ’74, ’78 and ’82 – the only thing stopping them from going through to the Second Round was goal difference.

9 days to go

England’s recent friendly opponents Mexico are the unfortunate holders of the World Cup’s worst losing streak in history, and it began at the tournament’s very first match.

From their 4-1 defeat to France in the joint-opening game of the inaugural 1930 event, Mexico failed to register a point in nine World Cups, spanning 28 years.

They lost all three matches in 1930, failed to qualify for the tournament in ’34 and ’38, lost three matches in 1950 and lost the two matches played in ’54.

At Sweden ’58 they were beaten 3-0 by the hosts in their opening group game before breaking their duck with a 1-1 draw with Wales.

They were still knocked out of the tournament, however, after their third-match defeat to Hungary. They finally registered their first win in 1962, beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 at the Group Stage.