Hurts too much to write about England

and in fact the referee had a virtually flawless game. His assistant spotted "three-card" Siminic pulling a shirt for the penalty and helped him out and he kept a firm grip on a game played at speed on a disastrous Wembley surface. But Croatia were simply far better than England.
No, I was interested by how sophisticated the Italian team have become at conning the ref, as portrayed in their streaky victory over Scotland on Saturday.
It was the Italians who introduced the art of diving to the world back in the 50s and 60s, conning referees for years until they caught on to the trickery. Now, however, the Italians are once again proving champions in the dark arts, the exaggerated movements that trick a referee into seeing what did not happen.
As soon as a player feels contact and often when there is no contact at all, one of several actions takes place. The trailing foot may be dragged along the ground before the player tumbles; a sudden jerk forward says clearly that he was pushed in the back. All these cynical acts and more made the referee's job almost impossible on Saturday. And don't get me started on the Portuguese.