What is it about English football that makes middle-aged men want to rip off their shirts?
Though as it happens, for the true connoisseur of football exhibitionism, good weather is not a determining factor. Actually, the opposite. For English fans of a certain waist measurement are more than happy to let loose in the most inclement of meteorological conditions. The colder it is, the more authentic their striptease. The aforementioned Tango achieved notoriety at Wednesday matches for shedding clothing in the very depths of winter, whirling his shirt above his head even as the snow tumbled, giving his top half an airing despite - or rather because of - the plummeting temperature. Newcastle United fans may well have been responsible for starting the trend when their team qualified for the Champions League back in the nineties. On trips to far flung frozen outposts, the sheer exhilaration of being in the elite competition fuelled the habit. Whipping your shirt off in conditions where the sane and rational would be reaching for another layer of thermals was reckoned a handy visual shorthand for demonstrating absolute dedication to the cause. Here was proof that they would put up with any apparent difficulty in order to follow the boys. So significant did the idea become that a couple of years ago a survey of Premier League club followers conducted by the bookmakers William Hill indicated that the Tyne freezing over was not going to stop them; 48 per cent of male Newcastle supporters would cheerfully remove their shirt in the most challenging of climes. It was by far the biggest proportion in the division (Arsenal fans, it seems, did not even register in the results). But what really reinforces the idea that these supporters are showing genuine fealty for the cause is the fact that - how can we put this - those doing it are rarely in competition with Cristiano Ronaldo for the chiselled physique of the year award. No one could accuse any of those removing their shirts on Sunday of being driven by an overabundance of narcissism. As it usually is in these circumstances, the only thing in excess was the girth. Which made it all the more notable. Heres hoping we see a lot more of Tango during the course of the tournament. Or maybe I should rephrase that