It’s not so much an uneasy alliance, more an acceptance of the status quo. The build up to England’s World Cup quarter-final win over Norway at the weekend highlighted how these two very different species operate.
In Brickle, for about six blocks from South West 12th Street down South Miami Avenue towards the river, you will hear the sports cars before you see them.
The revs from the engines pierce the relative calm of a generic shopping and entertainment district. It’s the driver’s way of letting those coming out of P.F. Changs or Sexy Fish know someone with low self-esteem and possible trust issues is about to arrive.
They love getting stuck in traffic. They’ll rev some more and have their head of a swivel scanning the area better than prime Xavi and Iniesta.
The fellas in the green and purple Lamborghini, red Ferrari, blue Corvette and white Cadillac are in their element. The thunderstorm that drowned much of downtown Miami on Friday night meant some of them had to put their roofs up. That also meant you would see the same cars on a loop around South Miami Avenue in a bid to get noticed.
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It worked, except it was The 42 in a €3 Penney’s t-shirt that copped the routine, sometimes slowing to a crawl before the next set of lights to stay in the show lane that bit longer.
On the same road, a couple of other cars were parked up with the boots open. Argentina jerseys with Messi on the back and Spain tops with Lamine Yamal’s name were on hangers with the rest of the boot rammed with stock in plastic packaging.
A lad with his baseball cap turned backwards is selling shirts to a queue of punters lining the block. Hundreds of dollars are being exchanged. A few feet away, another grafter has brought a rail with various World Cup jerseys.
There are official t-shirts too, all in XXL, that are going for 50 bucks with free alterations on the spot. A customer has asked for a red Norge t-shirt in medium so he has his scissors and tread out and is kneeling on the curb working his magic.
He doesn’t flinch as a black Porsche lets out a roar just a few inches away.
The theme of posers and grafters still seemed fitting after watching England beat Norway in Miami Stadium. After they had finished celebrating by singing “Wonderwall” and “Hey Jude”, the English players began to head for the dressing room in dribs and drabs.
All except John Stones, Harry Kane and Declan Rice. A video of Stones feigning a shoulder injury before popping it to the song “Let Me Talk To You” by Anothr did the rounds after their brilliant 3-2 win over Mexico.
Kane and Rice stopped Stones and wanted him to replicate it in front of the England fans. The pair shouted back at teammates who were almost at the tunnel in the far corner and some, like Anthony Gordon, were simply too shattered to traipse 70 yards back up the field.
Lionel Messi (right) celebrates with Alexis Mac Allister (centre) and Enzo Fernandez. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Kane sought to get the attention of England’s social media team to make sure they captured Stones popping his shoulder once more. It was the defender’s only half-hearted effort of the night.
Somehow, despite needing to graft for a place in Wednesday’s semi-final with Argentina in Atlanta, they still looked like posers.
Of course, such matters pale into significance when the days leading up to that last-four tie will also have a fair bit of discourse regarding the relationship between Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham.
The latter’s response to his manager’s damning criticism of his teammates’ technical performance will be defined by what happens next for England. Win and it will be held up as the example of a new kind of England, one in which the team’s best player and manager can speak so stridently without consequence. Their collective will to succeed will be a defining characteristic.
Lose and, well, the floodgates will open.
England face Argentina for the first time in the World Cup since 2002 (and the first time in Lionel Messi’s career) and it comes 40 years on from Maradona’s Goal of the Century and Hand of God at Mexico 86.
If the historical context isn’t enough, both of these sides have also shown so far they have revelled in chaos on the pitch. Both will now feel a sense of destiny despite clear vulnerabilities.
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Emotionally, it feels like Argentina and England are more connected than ever before. Or maybe that’s just the bubble of a World Cup distorting reality in some way. After England beat Norway, it was interesting to hear Erling Haaland reflect on the impact his first experience of the tournament had on him.
He said that it “changes Norway and it changes me”, adding that it “has been unreal, the best weeks and the best journey I’ve had in my entire life. It’s hard to take it in right now, you get a little empty. If I try to think quickly through these 40 days, it has been absolutely insane, the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
How will he adapt being reintegrated into the carefully controlled environment at Manchester City? How will others who feel the same and feel that same kind of thrill that can be absent from their club experiences
Those 40 days feel like they have gone by in a blur. The last week of the World Cup is upon us, a week when genius and force of will is going to determine the glory to come.
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Final week of World Cup will be defined by genius and force of will
POSERS AND GRAFTERS live side by side in Miami.
It’s not so much an uneasy alliance, more an acceptance of the status quo. The build up to England’s World Cup quarter-final win over Norway at the weekend highlighted how these two very different species operate.
In Brickle, for about six blocks from South West 12th Street down South Miami Avenue towards the river, you will hear the sports cars before you see them.
The revs from the engines pierce the relative calm of a generic shopping and entertainment district. It’s the driver’s way of letting those coming out of P.F. Changs or Sexy Fish know someone with low self-esteem and possible trust issues is about to arrive.
They love getting stuck in traffic. They’ll rev some more and have their head of a swivel scanning the area better than prime Xavi and Iniesta.
The fellas in the green and purple Lamborghini, red Ferrari, blue Corvette and white Cadillac are in their element. The thunderstorm that drowned much of downtown Miami on Friday night meant some of them had to put their roofs up. That also meant you would see the same cars on a loop around South Miami Avenue in a bid to get noticed.
It worked, except it was The 42 in a €3 Penney’s t-shirt that copped the routine, sometimes slowing to a crawl before the next set of lights to stay in the show lane that bit longer.
On the same road, a couple of other cars were parked up with the boots open. Argentina jerseys with Messi on the back and Spain tops with Lamine Yamal’s name were on hangers with the rest of the boot rammed with stock in plastic packaging.
A lad with his baseball cap turned backwards is selling shirts to a queue of punters lining the block. Hundreds of dollars are being exchanged. A few feet away, another grafter has brought a rail with various World Cup jerseys.
There are official t-shirts too, all in XXL, that are going for 50 bucks with free alterations on the spot. A customer has asked for a red Norge t-shirt in medium so he has his scissors and tread out and is kneeling on the curb working his magic.
He doesn’t flinch as a black Porsche lets out a roar just a few inches away.
The theme of posers and grafters still seemed fitting after watching England beat Norway in Miami Stadium. After they had finished celebrating by singing “Wonderwall” and “Hey Jude”, the English players began to head for the dressing room in dribs and drabs.
All except John Stones, Harry Kane and Declan Rice. A video of Stones feigning a shoulder injury before popping it to the song “Let Me Talk To You” by Anothr did the rounds after their brilliant 3-2 win over Mexico.
Kane and Rice stopped Stones and wanted him to replicate it in front of the England fans. The pair shouted back at teammates who were almost at the tunnel in the far corner and some, like Anthony Gordon, were simply too shattered to traipse 70 yards back up the field.
Kane sought to get the attention of England’s social media team to make sure they captured Stones popping his shoulder once more. It was the defender’s only half-hearted effort of the night.
Somehow, despite needing to graft for a place in Wednesday’s semi-final with Argentina in Atlanta, they still looked like posers.
Of course, such matters pale into significance when the days leading up to that last-four tie will also have a fair bit of discourse regarding the relationship between Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham.
The latter’s response to his manager’s damning criticism of his teammates’ technical performance will be defined by what happens next for England. Win and it will be held up as the example of a new kind of England, one in which the team’s best player and manager can speak so stridently without consequence. Their collective will to succeed will be a defining characteristic.
Lose and, well, the floodgates will open.
England face Argentina for the first time in the World Cup since 2002 (and the first time in Lionel Messi’s career) and it comes 40 years on from Maradona’s Goal of the Century and Hand of God at Mexico 86.
If the historical context isn’t enough, both of these sides have also shown so far they have revelled in chaos on the pitch. Both will now feel a sense of destiny despite clear vulnerabilities.
Emotionally, it feels like Argentina and England are more connected than ever before. Or maybe that’s just the bubble of a World Cup distorting reality in some way. After England beat Norway, it was interesting to hear Erling Haaland reflect on the impact his first experience of the tournament had on him.
He said that it “changes Norway and it changes me”, adding that it “has been unreal, the best weeks and the best journey I’ve had in my entire life. It’s hard to take it in right now, you get a little empty. If I try to think quickly through these 40 days, it has been absolutely insane, the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
How will he adapt being reintegrated into the carefully controlled environment at Manchester City? How will others who feel the same and feel that same kind of thrill that can be absent from their club experiences
Those 40 days feel like they have gone by in a blur. The last week of the World Cup is upon us, a week when genius and force of will is going to determine the glory to come.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
2026 world cup Soccer World Cup Diary