You can’t escape it and who could have predicted it but we can all agree it’s been amazing so far

Spent Father’s Day at the Vineyard Hotel, The Square restaurant had a special on and I thought it prudent to get outside of the city’s embrace given its circumference to everything relating to the World Cup.

The Vineyard is lovely, I always think that I should spend more time there but it’s just not a routine habit that I have been able to bed down. My parents, go often for tea and to greet a dear family friend who know works at the Hotel making sure that their debits and credits balance. So it was an obvious choice for Father’s Day.

But there is just no escaping the football though, during our lunch it became apparent that the Protuguese team were staying at the hotel. I saw Ronaldo and the frenzy that his presence tends to cause amongst teenage girls and their respective mothers. Some of the players signed scarves and jerseys and whatever that was thrown their way. It was nice to see them taking a few minutes out, to make it special for their fans, to pose for photographs and to get into the spirit.

When our meal was over I got up with my aunt who wanted to go for a cigarette and I accompanied her. We were away for about ten minutes talking about some of the games and the fever which she assured me has even spread to sleepy surburbia. On our return my mother proclaims, ‘you missed all the excitement,’ and shows me a picture of my father and Carlos Queiroz taken a few minutes ago.

Of course the next day at the UFO we got to see Portugal score a magnificent seven, now I am not saying it was the advice that I told my father to pass onto Carlos but maybe at half time he remembered something that was repeated to him late Sunday afternoon and the rest is history.

So? Who could have predicted it, we tried to escape the football but it continues to follow us wherever we go, and it’s wonderful. This World Cup is leaving a collage of memories and fantastical imprints which we will treasure always irrespective of the gender or generation – the Beautiful game how beautiful you are up close and personal.