There’s a notable sense of relief about the office this morning.
Last night, England did what Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany failed to do — start their World Cup campaign with a win.
Harry Kane’s brace allowed the Three Lions to edge out a resilient Tunisia side with just seconds left on the clock.
Understandably, the boys celebrated the skipper’s winner with appropriate enthusiasm.
As did fans back home — it’s touch and go whether we’ll get the Kronenbourg stain off our vintage 1990 home shirt in time for the Panama game.
However, you may have noticed that Kieran Trippier was the only England player who didn’t join in the bundle by the corner flag.
That’s because the Spurs wing-back, who was superb on the night, was aware of a niche rule that could have spoiled the golden moment.
The laws state that a team can kick-off once there are no opposition players in their half.
If all players leave the pitch, as Kane and co did, then the game can be restarted.
Hence why Trippier celebrated on his own just inside Tunisia’s half.
If he had jumped on top of the pile, then Tunisia could have technically taken kick-off and had a ten-on-one situation against Jordan Pickford.
Portugal did a similar thing against Spain in the immediate aftermath of Cristiano Ronaldo’s last-gasp free-kick…
Nice work, Trips.
FIFA 19 Standard and Champions Editions are available to pre-order from GAME and Amazon
THESE ARE THE CHEAPEST PLACES TO BUY FIFA 19 – PICK IT UP HERE:
- FIFA 19 at GAME – from £54.99 – pre-order now
- FIFA 19 at Amazon – from £54.99 – pre-order now