Dan Stacey's Gothia Cup Diary: Knockout stage success and England heartbreak

It is hard to write this article right now, about an hour after England crashed out of the World Cup in shambolic fashion. I want to be positive about another great day at the Gothia Cup and it already feels like a struggle, so bear with me.

The truth is that on the whole it has been another really positive day for the lads, and certainly the most demanding physically.

Another 5.30am start was required with another 9am kick off scheduled at the Inlagsleden in Kungsbacka, and scarily I felt relatively fresh despite my mammoth 18 hour day on Tuesday.

The game was another draw, this time 2-2, and another barnstorming 50 minutes of action. After Brad Brown gave Wolverhampton Olympic the lead with a tidy finish at the back post all looked rosy, only for two late goals - in the 44th and 47th minutes - to leave us staring down the barrel at bottom spot in the group.

However, these lads are made of sterner stuff and another back post effort, this time from Niall Yates, in the 49th minute ensured a top seed spot in play-off group two and a clash with Finnish side Salon Palloilijat.

The real killer - on two counts - was that that game would have to be played later on Wednesday evening - so late in fact that we were at risk of missing most of the first half while making our way home, as well as losing a spot at the local sports bar for a big feast arranged following our trip there on Monday.

In hindsight missing that game would not have been so bad, but our manager Amo pulled the strings with his friends in high places to arrange an earlier kick off time, moving from 7.20pm to 6.30pm.

The afternoon was spent watching our potential knockout stage opponents as well as a Swedish girls team that the lads have become ‘friendly’ with. I think a few were humbled to discover their ‘friends’ were in fact as good, if not better, footballers than them which was great to see.

The rearranged kick off time also meant a rearranged location, and we travelled back to Tingbergsvallen for a game on a pitch in front of a stand for the first time on the trip.

A strong crowd turned up in support of the boys, dwarfing the away following of our Finnish counterparts who clearly did not have much faith in their team against a side playing with confidence such as ourselves. And right they were to do so.

While we raced into a 2-0 win, it was the way we did so that felt so special for all of us. Our striker Ethan Kalirai had, up until this point, had a frustrating tournament in front of goal, but a quick pep talk to remind him of his goal scoring credentials over the past however many years appeared to unleash a beast. Two shots, two goals, one of which was a deft backheel into the net. He has arrived.

The knockout stages of a tournament is where big players show up and thankfully a number of ours did, helping to carry 14 tired lads through to the round of 32. Two games in a day is really tough, especially physical, emotional battles like the ones we have enjoyed today.

Away from the pride we feel for our team we were disgusted to discover that one of our players had been racially abused by an opposition player after the final whistle, a crime that went seemingly unpunished which baffles me as much as it angers me. The only positive thing I can say about the matter is the culprit and his team was dumped out of the tournament by a proudly-diverse squad that are here to display and represent our proudly-diverse region. It was a sombre reminder, if it were needed, that there is a hell of a long way to go yet before that pride is echoed around the world.

We returned to Liseberg in time for the football and watched the England game at the Spoton Sportsbar by the hostel. It was great for an hour, and then England did as England does. I cannot even bring myself to write anymore about it, but football aside it was a great evening.

Thursday will be my final full day at the Gothia Cup, and all being well I could be heading home before the lads are knocked out. With another two potential games tomorrow rest and recuperation is key, but will they get it? Their next door neighbours go home tomorrow, and I will leave it at that...