Thank God the World Cup’s over

“They think it’s all over ... it is now!”
Germany's Philipp Lahm lifts the World Cup trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup with team-mates after the FIFA World Cup Final at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janerio, BrazilGermany's Philipp Lahm lifts the World Cup trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup with team-mates after the FIFA World Cup Final at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janerio, Brazil
Germany's Philipp Lahm lifts the World Cup trophy as he celebrates winning the World Cup with team-mates after the FIFA World Cup Final at the Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janerio, Brazil

Football fans of Mr Pendle’s generation will remember the famous words of the late, great commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme as Geoff Hurst scored England’s fourth goal against West Germany in their 1966 World Cup triumph.

And Mr Pendle could almost hear them being paraphrased around the area as Sunday’s final brought the 2014 competition in Brazil to a close.

Talk about over the top coverage.

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The mainstream terrestrial television channels covered every game between them, even those of no interest to even the most fervent of football fans.

And Radio 5 was even worse – it had commentary on every game!

Whatever for?

The World Cup might have been the much trumpeted “greatest show on turf” – at least until the 2018 competition in Russia – but can anyone seriously say they really cared who won matches, for instance, between Ecuador and Honduras, Nigeria and Iran or South Korea and Algeria?

Mr Pendle certainly didn’t – and most of the people he knows were hardly dashing to the nearest television sets to watch them either.

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As he said previously in a previous diary, Mr Pendle was very selective about the games he tuned in to watch – and as the final whistle blew in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Wolstenholme’s words came back to Mr Pendle with the short, pithy rejoinder - thank God!