Anyway, this time it wasn’t for a holiday that we set the alarm clock for 01:50am. We may have had bags under our eyes, but there were no bags packed and the only flight we were using was the flight of stairs to the living room (no that wasn’t a stretch of a metephor because our living room really is upstairs!). The World Cup was on and England were playing in their first quarter final in decades. We had a date with destiny....and of course the sofa and a cup of tea.
It’s quite easy to say now that it was all worth it, with England having dispatched Sweden by a comfortable two goals, but it didn’t feel that way as the pre-match analysis segued into the match coverage, streamed courtesy of the BBC. I can now confirm, with first hand experience, that sleep deprivation and in-game punditry don’t go hand in hand, especially as all you really want is soothing music to help you get back to the land of nod. Yet, a large proportion of Auckland slept on, we settled down, tried to clear our heads with a cup of tea and hoped that the football would be worth the effort.
At this point I’d like to go on record and say that had we been living in the UK and a similar situation had presented itself, I very much doubt that we would have risen from our slumber. Not because we appreciate the spectacle any less but because being 12,000km from home gives it a certain amount of focus. It’s almost as if a badge of honour is gained by tuning in at some ungodly hour. After all, when you’re living in a country that obsesses over another form of team game, it’s not a bad thing to remind others that the ‘proper’ World Cup is playing out in a part of the world that isn’t New Zealand and doesn’t involve the All Blacks. I challenge even the most ardent unsupporter of football to do anything less under those circumstances!
As a former colleague of mine was happy to note “hindsight’s and exact science” and I’m writing this from a comfortable position of knowing the game was won and England will be appearing in a World Cup semi final for the first time in 28 years. A time when most of the players hadn’t even been born. Now that’s a sobering thought. Not that any alcohol was drank last night. Well, it was but not since the first half of sleep had taken place. Being drunk in the morning is not a good look whoever you are!
So with the first half of sleep safely under my belt, and I must say it was a commanding performance, and the half time entertainment out of the way, I settled down for the second half. Obviously I was hoping to build on the solid first but as they quite often say (although I’ve never actually heard this) it’s a game of two halves. The second half didn’t start as well as the first. I was restless, slightly cold and didn’t have the same urgency that I greeted the start of the first half with. After ten minutes it was clear that I was going to have to change my tactics....
Time then for the hot water bottle. You can call me a pampered Prima Donna all you like, and there maybe some truth in that, but it did the trick. Now I was properly warmed up I was on a roll and soon drifted into sleep. With added stoppage time at the end of the second half I awoke refreshed and ready to face the challenges of the day.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance over the course of two halves. Maybe I gained too much energy from the first half to have a really successful second? After all, who could keep that level of inactivity up for the whole period? Maybe my choice of halftime refreshments could also do with some analysis - perhaps two cups of tea was just too much? Well there would be time to take a look at that and maybe even another chance to put it into practice....the World Cup Final was just around the corner....and it could be a dream come true!
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