What does the Moon care if a dog barks at it?

My mother said this to me a long time ago. Being German she had just cause - it was not the most popular nationality in the fifties and sixties. But she learned to let everything just bounce off her whilst at work or walking around Wellingborough, the small Northamptonshire town where we lived. She was proudly German, but loved England too. She was a true European in many ways.

But, the funny thing was she always said that English people were at their best (and worst) in total adversity.

Take the World Cup. Total adversity of a kind. Back in 1970, England were doing well. Bunting was everywhere and people really believed we could win the cup again. Then we lost to West Germany in the quarter finals after being 2-0 to the good. It was a national disaster. I remember my mother saying that English people always respond in a slightly different way to other countries, where mobs would smash windows and overturn cars. I did not understand her until she looked at the newspaper and pointed out that the BBC had changed the scheduling for the next day and were now showing 'The Great Escape', whilst ITV had opted for 'The Guns of Navarone'. We might have lost the game, but we had won in both these two. English people relaxed again. We were winners, after all.

The current World Cup might be different, but I half expect a similar reaction if England end up losing to Russia - our current political adversary. So, expect to see a special viewing of Rocky (with the Russian boxer) or James Bond in From Russia with Love, the evening after the game.