Who doesn?t love an international break" 

Two weeks without a game; meaningless friendlies; sweating on whether City players pick up injuries; and, if you are really unlucky, being forced to watch an England game.

I?m not sure when I fell out of love with the international game ? even major tournaments don?t excite me like they used to. I remember racing home from school during Spain ?82 and witnessing Bryan Robson score the fastest World Cup goal for England. Nowadays, I barely recognize the players.

The mid-week game against Greece found me in Venice Beach, just on the outskirts of Los Angeles. A grey and overcast start to the day led me to being fooled into going for an early morning run. I decided to wear my Dafabet shirt and headed off with the prospect of a cooling sea breeze. Of course, halfway through the run, the sun broke through and, instead, I was gently roasted. 
Once back at the hotel. I discovered my friends and colleagues had identified the ?Venice Ale House? as a location likely to be showing the England game. So I got changed and re-traced my run ? at a slower pace this time ? to discover that the match was indeed being shown.

My disinterest was swiftly removed when I saw the Greece line-up. Dimi Giannoulis and Christos Tzolis both in the starting XI. Some real interest at last to see how the City old boys were doing.

Of course, we know. Tzolis played well. Really well. The two ex-Ca...