Chan Sam had already received two receipts, one from the banking institution in Hong Kong to which he had sent his draft, and another from the broker in the market town of Shekki, which served several satellite villages including Chang Gar Bin. A courier had carried the draft from Hong Kong to Shekki.

She and her husband managed to fix up a false floor in one of their rooms in which they fed the roosters; so whenever a picket came in sight her call would bring the whole family out of the woods and clearing into the refuge, where they remained peacefully amongst corn-cobs till the danger had passed.

They have been recently propelled out of cultdom and into wider acclaim by a confluence of zeitgeists.

Defeat would have been harsh on the Swiss, predictably well-organised under the masterly direction of veteran coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, and in midfield man Xherdan Shaqiri they have one of Europe's rising stars.