Have you ever had that dream where you’re playing for your favourite team, thrown on in a desperate bid to find a goal? And the game is against a side you’ve never heard of, part of some arcane tournament that’s suddenly of vital importance? Oh, and it’s being played in your parents’ back garden? Just us? Well, that’s the closest parallel we could think up for Copa Gianni, where the group stages have served up the weird, wonderful and woeful in equal measure. If you haven’t been paying attention, here are some “highlights” so far.

Goals, goals, goals: Let’s be honest, if you’re a neutral tuning in on a weekday afternoon, or in the dead of night, you want to see goals – and Copa Gianni has certainly delivered. There have been148 in 48 games, a reliable ratio of more than three per game. We’ve seen seven-goal shootouts (Mamelodi 3-4 Dortmund, Juventus 2-5 Manchester City), an eight-goal epic (Porto 4-4 Al Ahly) and, er, a 10-goal classic (Bayern Munich 10-0 Auckland City). There’s been quality to match the quantity too, with highlights from Kenan Yildiz, Miguel Merentiel, Mamelodi’s Lucas Ribeiro channeling 80s Brazil and of course, Lionel Messi. Attacking flair, dodgy playing surfaces and a relaxed attitude to defending have given the tournament a fun, knockabout pre-season feel that will please casual fans, and wound Gianni Infantino to his core. Everyone’s a winner!

Brilliant Brazil: The notion that Copa Gianni and its many predecessors don’t really matter that much is a profoundly European point of view. South American sides have generally quite fancied the idea of being the world’s best team, even if in recent times it’s been the Euro giants picking up the trophy each year with a collective shrug. Might that change in the new, expanded format? Brazil’s quartet of sides have been magnificent: all four are into the last 16, with one defeat in 12 games and just nine goals conceded collectively, rebuffing a few stereotypes about shapeless “samba football” on the way.

Crowd confusion: South American teams have brought along thousands of noisy, passionate fans that have genuinely saved things from becoming a total embarrassment. There have been some big attendances – 60,927 people can tell their grandkids they saw Al Ahly 0-0 Inter Miami – but also some near-empty grounds. There were just 3,412 fans at Camping World Stadium in Orlando to see Mamelodi Sundowns defeat Ulsan HD, a sentence which sums up why CG ‘25 is simply not an elite-level tournament, no matter how much Infantino waves his gold key around.

Extreme weather: The biggest crowd so far – 80,619 – was at the Rose Bowl to see PSG thump Atlético Madrid 4-0. The problem was that temperatures soared to 31C for a 12pm kick-off, with supporters claiming they were told to dispose of full water bottles before entering the venue. “There was no way to simply buy water,” sweated one, while another declared that attending was “the worst mistake”. The heat almost drove Diego Simeone to go full Jackie Charlton on the touchline, and it wasn’t just in Pasadena. Dortmund subs retreated to the dressing room to watch the end of their game, while the threat of storms caused five games to be delayed.

The underdogs: Auckland City earned their place in the draw by winning Oceania’s Big Cup, but they are not even the best team in their home city. Auckland FC recently topped Australia’s flamin’ A-League table, but are ineligible for either AFC or OFC competitions. Instead, New Zealand’s finest amateur side jetted off to the USA USA USA – those who could get the time off work, anyway – and lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica. They restored pride with a very creditable 1-1 draw against Boca Juniors, but reports suggest the team want head coach and dentist Paul Posa to be replaced – in part because he had never heard of Benfica’s World Cup-winning defender, Nicolás Otamendi. Other underdogs made a better impression: South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns were a goal from going through, Mexico’s Monterrey – led by Sergio Ramos – sent River Plate home, and plucky Saudi outfit Al-Hilal showed up Real Madrid. At Copa Gianni, dreams really do come true.

It helped playing with my brothers all the time … I went to Arsenal and trained at the boys’ academy. It took a few sessions because at first they were like: ‘There’s a girl with us.’ But when they got to realise what I could do, they accepted me” – England’s Lauren James gets her chat on with Donald McRae in this in-depth interview.

Mike Todd’s pedantry about Newky Brown (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) has piqued my curiosity. Can anyone at Football Daily Towers confirm if Purple Tin also comes in a bottle? – Weird Unc Frankie Dodds.

It was a bit sad to be reminded of how Lee Carsley had been overlooked for the England manager gig (yesterday’s Football Daily). There is another successful, highly experienced and obviously well-qualified candidate that most commentators never seem to mention as worthy of consideration. Someone who clearly is a born leader, is totally media savvy, and has a successful international track record including the first trophy for a senior England team since 1966. Sarina Wiegman. I wonder why? – Steve Malone.

It would be interesting if, instead of meaningless friendlies, youth sides could play their senior counterparts for the right to represent England at a given tournament. If Carsley’s unit beat Thomas Tuchel’s, then the winning manager gets to take his squad to a tournament – Mark Pearson.

Re: yesterday’s Quotes of the Day. Clearly Emiliano Viviano has never visited Britain” – Gareth Rogers.

Please send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day competition is … Mark Pearson, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

It’s just who he is, er, buddy? Ange Postecoglou’s job search may take him to LAFC, last seen being largely useless at Copa Gianni. Big Ange to make the biggest Aussie splash in Tinseltown since Mel Gibson started wielding his lethal weaponry or Hugh Jackman put on his X-Men suit? Should he be a Beverly Hills flop in his first season, the club’s owners – the usual mix of billionaires, venture capitalists and Will Ferrell – can be certain the second will deliver silverware. The current manager, Steve Cherundolo, is doing one at the end of the MLS season, so the door is open. Other Ange options? The Saudi Pro League at Asian Big Cup winners, Al-Ahli – or replacing Steve Clarke in the Scotland job.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has left his job as Leicester’s manager after a miserable 27-game spell which brought relegation from the Premier League. Sean Dyche is among the frontrunners to replace him, though he could well be living it up at Glastonbury this weekend.

Robbie Savage is poised to leave Macclesfield FC – where he is part-owner – to become Forest Green Rovers’ new manager. Savage, who said it “would take an awful lot for me to leave” back in March, will have to wait to seal the deal – because Forest Green owner Dale Vince is also at Worthy Farm.

Keith Andrews will replace Thomas Frank as Brentford manager, with his appointment expected to be announced in the coming days. Andrews will be just the third Republic of Ireland-born Premier League manager, following in the footsteps of Joe Kinnear and Roy Keane, who probably isn’t at Glasto.

Arsenal are chasing defensive reinforcements and could move for Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera.

Nottingham Forest’s hopes of signing Juve duo Timothy Weah and Samuel Mbangula for just under £20m are over, after the pair rejected the move.

Bernardo Silva is the first captain directly appointed by Pep Guardiola in his coaching career, and he described slipping on the Manchester City armband as “one of the greatest moments” in his footballing life. And Silva helped City thrash Juve 5-2 to top Group G and set up a last-16 clash with Al-Hilal at Copa Gianni, while the Italians will face Real Madrid next.

Our Euro 2025 team guides continue, with Denmark facing a tough task to get out of a group featuring a resurgent Germany (and Sweden). And in case you missed it, here’s our brilliant interactive guide to all 368 players at the tournament, too.

Enzo Fernández has been Chelsea’s best player at Copa Gianni and is starting to repay his hefty price tag, writes Jacob Steinberg.

Three Rio de Janeiro clubs and São Paolo’s Palmeiras have all made it to Copa Gianni’s last 16 – and Brazil’s run may not stop there, write Tom Sanderson and Josué Seixas.

Africa’s quartet brought plenty of entertainment, but none advanced from the group stages and reform is needed, reports Paul MacInnes.

Could Eberechi Eze head north of the river? Arsenal and Tottenham are both grabbing at his sleeve, according to Friday’s Rumour Mill.

And finally, here are 10 star players from the European Under-21s to spice up your next Football Manager 25 26 save.

The date of 27 June is a notable one in English football history: back in 2010, Frank Lampard’s goal did not stand against Germany as England crashed out of the World Cup last 16, losing 4-1. Six years later, at the same stage of Euro 2016, it was England 1-2 Iceland. Ah, memories.