Ruth has had a moment of whimsy ahead of the Round of 16 at Euro 2020.
Over the last few days, the song meandering around me, has been John Lennon’s Nobody Told Me. Long after his death, Yoko Ono described the period when Lennon wrote the song….
“I think that especially around that time he felt that again, the world had lost its course, its direction. I really think that it’s to do with, not confusion but starting to learn that life is always gonna be a mystery.”
Embed from Getty ImagesJohn Lennon and Yoko Ono (left) during their ‘Bed-In’ in the Presidential suite of the Hilton hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands in March 1969. (Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns)
Recently, we’ve all faced Strange Days Indeed. But I’d like to see Yoko Ono’s last point, that life is always going to be a mystery, as a positive.
And that is the key strength of sport, of course. That however likely an outcome, nothing is absolute. Every now and then Foinavon wins the Grand National, Leicester City triumph in the Premiere League, or Buster Douglas beats Mike Tyson.
Cymru men’s football team, with some notable exceptions, usually thwarted our dreams long before qualification groups even really broke a sweat. The times when we almost made a tournament, took on the peculiar veil of folklore. Tales to be shared with grandchildren of what might have been.
Embed from Getty Images13th June 1958: Welsh centre-forward John Charles (left) makes an attack on the Mexican goal during the Wales-Mexico World Cup match in Stockholm. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Equally strangely, we didn’t show reverence for the limited successes we did attain. I hope the members of the 1958 team who are still with us; Terry Medwin, Cliff Jones, Trevor Edwards, and George Baker; are finally seeing some real appreciation of their amazing achievements. And the ‘forgotten team’ of ’76? Let’s work at removing that moniker.
Embed from Getty ImagesArfon Griffiths (dark shirt) scores the winning goal for Wales against Austria during their European Championship Qualifying match played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on 19th November 1975. Wales beat Austria 1-0. (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images.)
But now, although we’re living a mystery still, it’s of the happy, thrilling, positive variety. Perhaps even romantic, because we are all just that little bit smitten.
By definition, the road ends somewhere, but Cymru’s national team have left us believing that this will no longer be at a dead end. Rather we, in the widest sense of Wales, are part of the adventure, confident in ourselves, and the road could lead anywhere.
Together Stroger image adapted from https://www.flickr.com/photos/126337928@N05/28177628255 Jeremy Segrott Other photos by Getty Images.