National Review's John O'Sullivan recounts this anecdote that had me laughing:

Sorry, but the Basil Fawlty story reminds me of the great opening line of Vincent Mulchrone's Daily Mail report of the German victory over England in an earlier soccer World Cup. I quote from memory: "Yesterday Germany beat this country in our national game for the second time this century. But that's only fair since we beat Germany at their national game twice this century too."