After those distressing post-referendum reports of insults being hurled at Polish residents, it’s a pleasure to offer best wishes to all of the capital’s citizens who retain an acute interest in Euro 2016.
Numerically led, I’d guess, by the Poles. May they enjoy good luck as the quarter-finals kick off tonight — but no more than the Portuguese of Lambeth and elsewhere. Or the Welsh or the French or anyone else, including those from Iceland, whose heroic team take on the hosts in Paris on Sunday.
It’s quite a line-up, starting with Poland against Portugal in Marseille, where the winners should not be discounted as potential champions, given that their schedule will then allow the maximum of rest before the semis and, if that stage is negotiated — they’ll take on Wales or Belgium on Wednesday — the final.
Beforehand, Poland were my second choice as dark horses — behind Croatia — because they had been so impressive in qualifying along with Germany and Ireland to the exclusion of Scotland.
While they have defended even better than expected, their attack has yet to punch its weight and much will depend on whether Robert Lewandowski can rise at last and face the challenge of Cristiano Ronaldo. Whatever is said about Ronaldo, you can’t keep him down. And now carrying his country’s banner in the knowledge that one more step forward will hasten favourable comparison with Lionel Messi, who retired from the international game after missing a penalty in Argentina’s ill-fated Copa America decider.
Ronaldo remains such a force that Portugal must be fancied to encounter Wales or Belgium, who meet in Lille tomorrow. If Belgium play as they did against Hungary, Wales will be going home.
But there are plenty more fairytales to keep unfolding: that, for instance, of Gianluigi Buffon, whose Italy could confound even the Germans, and finally, on Sunday, the Icelanders’ visit to the Stade de France. Imagine the nerves of Didier Deschamps.
Interactive 'wallchart': All the fixtures at your fingertips
