There are two Englands. One, an efficient, reliable and high-functioning machine that, for all its imperfections, is one game away from a World Cup semi-final. The other is a nation grinding to a halt on a daily basis — sometimes the trains, others the postal network, but always something.
Given the misery back home — not only strikes but the bitter cold suddenly engulfing the country — we need something to look forward to, to give us that warm feeling inside when the cost of energy is too great for many to heat more than one room at a time.
