The underdogs have shown up well on the big stage and even Portugal put their hands up against the All Blacks and got a well-earned try.

BBC: Zinzan Brooke column

As the economist Paul Krugman put it, it was as if Europeans were holding up a sign which read "time to stage a run on your bank".

BBC: Cyprus bailout: Who messed up?

"We want to show that we have got a vision for Birmingham and an ambition to put Birmingham on the international stage so that we are up there with the likes of Barcelona and Berlin, " he said.

BBC: Birmingham bids to create three art galleries