Good luck to all the teams involved with just over 2 hours to go before it kicks off.
Unless you’re Irish, Scottish or Welsh where based on present teams I would suggest only.
72 years and 2 hrs to go
There was an interesting discussing on Jeremy Vine's radio 2 show yesterday discussing whether it was right that David Cameron should raise the English red and white flag above Downing Street or not, during the World Cup. Some people called in to say that it should have been the Union Jack as we are the "United Kingdom", some Welsh and Scottish folk said they considered themselves British first and Welsh/Scottish second so the English flag was offensive. Some said it's England who have qualified so it's right that the English Flag should be flying, but one Scottish person asked the question "Would David Cameron be flying the Scottish flag over Downing Street if the Scots had qualified?" probably not.
I suspect that David Cameron would have been criticized which ever flag he went for. If he'd gone for the Union Jack no doubt some non-English folk would have been annoyed to be associated with the English Football team, etc. I'm sure David has more pressing matters to ponder anyway.
I will be glad when its all over and people get rid of those stupid flags on their cars - its sooooo not great when you are our riding your horse and a "patriotic" car goes flying past with 4 flapping noisey flags and you nearly end up in the hedgerows! We have decided not to use the roads until its all over and done with
With regards to England tomorrow
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of this World Cup, and to outlive the menace of going out in the first round.
At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of every Englishman in this ,
The English, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their national team, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.
Even though large tracts of the media and many old and famous Pundents have fallen or may fall into the grip of the a lack of faith and all the odious apparatus of the we are going to fail, however we shall not flag or fail.
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in South Afrca
We shall fight on the pitch,
We shall fight them on the planes
We shall fight in the bars
we shall fight in the shopping centres
we shall fight in the Police cells
We shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Team beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the English will, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the World cup, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."
Come in England
It's not really irony - it's just phase 3 of the usual, ritual............(this was written before the match yesterday - and so is spot on with the victory against Slovenia).
(From the FT).
Phase one: England enter the World Cup certain they will win it.
Alf Ramsey, the only English manager to win the trophy, forecast the victory of 1966. But his prescience becomes less impressive when you realise that almost every England manager forecast victory in the World Cup, including Ramsey both times he didn't win.
Fabio Capello, England's manager at least until this afternoon, observed this ritual. "My team, the England team, we can beat all the teams," he said last month. Like all his predecessors, Capello spoke for a confident nation.
Phase two: The campaign is upended by a freakish piece of bad luck that the English conclude could only happen to them.
Here the current campaign breaks with ritual. Normally, the freakish bad luck happens in a later round: the tummy bug that felled keeper Gordon Banks in 1970, Diego Maradona's "hand of God" in 1986, or David Beckham's red card in 1998. This time, it came only 40 minutes into England's tournament: the soft USA shot that trickled through Robert Green's hands into the net.
Phase three: England lose to a former wartime enemy.
In five of their last seven World Cups, they went out against either Germany or Argentina. The matches fit seamlessly into the British tabloid view of history, except for the outcome. England's defeats to Germany, because of their grandiose yet repetitious character, are tragicomic. By contrast, elimination against a ski-mad country of 2m people would be merely comic (if you aren't English). To honour ritual, England need to revive national hubris by triumphing against Slovenia, before losing to Germany in the second round this weekend.
(Won't bore you with Phase 4, 5 and 6 - except to say that Phase 6 takes us back full circle with England believing they can win the next World Cup.....).
Of course, should England fluke their way past Germany, it's Argentina in the next round.
In the unlikely event we're still in the tournament following that tie, there's still plenty of scope to go out to a former wartime enemy - fortunately we've had a go at pretty much everybody at some time or other.
However, I was feeling unsure. Does the media evisceration of the team and/or manager usually occur between phases 1 and 2, 2 and 3, post phase 3 or on a generally continuous basis throughout?
The evisceration is phase 5............finding the scapegoat.
See the full article here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3ccc82d0-7...44feabdc0.html
After England, I am cheering on NZ, as it is my adopted country with living off and on there, and family there, so I am delighted they are doing well after that Italy draw.
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