Ireland's approach bound to frustrate

WHAT was I saying about inflated egos?

My Holland bet was about as disappointing as I could have possibly imagined and it was made ten times worse by Mrs Bunter gushing over Nicklas Bendtner.

Nicklas Bendtner. I know.

The only place with more fractured relationships than my living room was the Holland dressing-room and I'm tempted to give them a wide berth for the rest of the tournament.

Robin van Persie was far from his Reliant Robin self and looked about as handy as White Van Man down the 5-a-side pitch, while Mark van Bommel looked as clunky as I did when I'd hit 35.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, as my bank manager certainly wouldn't be saying if he'd seen the state of my finances after that one, and Giovanni Trapattoni's men are apparently taking heart from the way those plucky underdogs Chelsea won the Champions League.

Hang on a minute, what? Investing eye-watering amounts of money in developing the squad, the staff, the training ground and the youth system? Does Angela Merkel know about this?

I know this is hardly brilliant insight but Ireland's dour style is bound to frustrate Croatia and with no goalscorer a bigger price than I expected I'll be having a wager on the bore draw.

And I'll happily watch clunky Van Bommel tactics from the Boys in Green all night.