But today we are the bookmakers’ favourites to progress to the next round. Of course, the fans are aware that the two teams will approach the game with very different footballing philosophies. The Germans, influenced by Heidegger and Immanuel Kant, will be trying to play the ball on the floor, reflecting that metaphysics can be reformed through epistemology. But the English fans will be chanting the names of their own heroes – John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, and calling for the English back four to be mindful of the paradox of individual freedom under the “tyranny of the majority”.

¶ 7:50 AM