“Luis Suárez’s first goal on Thursday was a delicate touch of class, a deft header nodded in with precision and purpose and placement. Suárez’s second goal, however — the one that was a death blow for England — was something closer to a savage blast. The combination was vintage Suárez, a pure attacker who perfectly embodies the Uruguayan notion of garra charrua — that is, a mixture of will, fight and an unyielding desire to win in whatever way is required. On a chilly night at Arena Corinthians, Suárez showed his deliberate jab and then, at just the right moment, his haymaker.” NY Times

England’s vanquished players are left sad, speechless and bewildered
“One by one they stepped blinking into the brightly lit corridor of uncertainty, clasping their wash bags like comfort blankets. Daniel Sturridge, so effervescent and full of life in his pre-match interviews and now displaying an expression somewhere between fury and heartbreak. A red-eyed Wayne Rooney, eyes fixed forward. Jordan Henderson, exposed and overrun in midfield alongside his club team-mate Steven Gerrard, muttering that he had been ‘told not to stop’.” Guardian

At This World Cup, England Fans Get Their Disillusionment in First
“My late friend Alan Watkins, who died four years ago after writing a political column for fifty years, was a Welshman and also wrote learnedly on rugby. In 1996 he was discussing Tony Blair, then the Labour leader of the opposition, a year before he became prime minister. Every rugby fan knows the words of Carwyn James, the great Welsh coach who led the British Lions to a unique victory over New Zealand in 1971. Ahead of what was expected to be an unusually violent series, James told his players to ‘get your retaliation in first.'” New Republic