A second-half fightback to draw with the USA offered a hope that swiftly evaporated following a gut-wrenching 2-0 loss to Iran only four days later. It meant only the seemingly impossible would be enough for Rob Page's men to extend their World Cup dream. The old enemy, England, had the Red Dragons firmly in their crosshairs.

“Us Knotts, we've been keeping up this road for over a hundred years,” he said, waving away the extra biscuit Doris tried to press on him. “My granddaddy was a road captain back 'fore nineteen-hundred." What was that? asked Seth's daughter Jessica. Means being in charge of a stretch of road. When my pa was a boy, he used to go help Grampa lay off his mile.

Let's briefly put on manly readiness.

In fact, players have incorporated Gorean roleplay into a number of online games, adopting the social structures, institutions, and in some cases even the language of Gor.