Amid the aura of a legendary venue, concerns over the altitude and a host nation whipped into a fervour over their biggest football match in decades – possibly ever – it has been easy to slip into focusing solely on the romance and the narrative since England football team sealed their path to Mexico City with Wednesday’s strung-out victory over DR Congo.
But for all of the noise and the expectation surrounding this game, and besides the best efforts of Mexican fans to find out where England are staying so they can ‘welcome’ them with the same fireworks and Mariachi bands that they welcomed the Ecuadoreans – leading to a formal complaint to FIFA – this is a match which will be won on the pitch.
