England rise to Azteca occasion and see off ghosts, time and Mexico

England’s players celebrate after ‘one of those days when football feels like an abstract entity, too big to be contained by teams and tactics’. Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/AP

“Enn-JOYYY this unforrrgGEDDABLE Fifa Worrrld Cup … expPERRIENCE!!” the strangely guileless American‑accented public address had commanded, with 40 minutes still to run before the delayed kick‑off in Mexico City.

Er. OK then. Looking out over the mist-shrouded cliff face of the Estadio Azteca, drenched to the inner seams in generational rain, throbbing through the chest from the endless waves of noise, the word enjoy just didn’t seem to capture the basic sensory experience.