In a different sport and in what feels like another lifetime, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett exploited a fast track to win Olympic gold for Great Britain at the Luzhniki Stadium, although the most recent artificial surface installed at an arena initially named after Lenin is less to English liking.
The FA has done its best not to protest too much about today’s European Championship qualifying match being played on plastic but cannot have been impressed on inspecting the pitch last night, with a wet surface and dark, dank atmosphere combining to create a sense of foreboding. It may have come too late for Steve McClaren, but this is The Times’s guide to what his players can expect today.
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