What a change between the talk of the media and the supporters before the England v Germany World Cup, and the end! From world beaters to a well beaten third rate performance, with goals to confirm Germany's dominance, or to put it another way, England's dreadful football.
It's not the play on the field that gets to me, it's the attitude of the English media and supporters. Just a short time ago, they were booking their place in the final! Now, they will be lucky to get to the plane home without being lynched verbally, emotionally and almost literally. What a sorry lot they are.
If pride goes before a fall, then I suppose arrogance goes before a nose dive! Was it just me, or did the whole England band wagon say too much too soon? Did they maybe talk too much before their brains were in gear? I do not support the ABE (Anyone But England) camp, but I can see why England's attitude does them no favours, and grates on any other UK nation's nerves as they push their invincibility on us, and the rest of the world. For me, I welcome their defeat. In the name of all that is sportsmanlike, they did not deserve to win. Their performance on the field of play is one thing, but their attitude off the field needs to be given a knock, and who better to do that, than the German team?
The only down side is that they will now revert to their old chant of '1966' and that is bad. Mind you, it could have been worse. They might have got further in the competition, so for that reason, I am glad they are out. That kind of human nature does not deserve to be rewarded! Maybe it's a kind of natural justice after all! Yes, 'how are the mighty fallen', and fallen badly. The following verses from that quote, continue (paraphrased) as 'sshhhh don't tell anybody about it!!' How appropriate.... Let the recriminations begin!
The aim is to provide a stimulating mix of personal opinions (from a mainstream Christian worldview), and associated comments, which will be accepted and published if they comply with the usual courtesy and decency.
Showing posts with label world cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world cup. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Football Crazy!
It's football season again. Actually, to be more accurate it's World Cup football time, and that happens only once every four years, but for me that's more than enough. Am I the only person in the planet who is not enthralled by all the activity on and off the field of play, by the top world's football teams?
It is salt in the wound when Scotland didn't even qualify. They didn't ever look close to getting there. Maybe that would have given me a little more incentive to check now and again, how they were doing. I doubt if I would have watched a full match anyway, but I might have had a little more than just a passing interest.
I have been thinking what it is that makes the world so interested and passionate about football, and especially the pinnacle of the World Cup. I have to give it to the teams for their passion, hard work, intense training, teamwork, rivalry, competitiveness, national pride, and all of these things spill over into the supporters.
So what's the other side of this competition? I watched a friendly spat between England and another team, where Wayne Rooney was cautioned for swearing and foul language. That's probably just the tip of a great big iceberg. What will happen when the World Cup starts for real? Now for the down side to balance all those good things said earlier. These 'role models' (and I am especially thinking of our England team) will be seen and heard to be (the media are everywhere), bad tempered, foul mouthed, non-sportsmanlike on and off the pitch (how many Scots want anyone at all to beat England?), petty, argumentative with the ref, foul, dive all over the pitch, pull, punch, kick and drag their opponents if they think they are not being seen, and that's not to mention the tears and tantrums if they get beaten. The closer they get to the final, the worse all of these things will get.
Well, maybe not. After all, according the UK media, our national team, England, have won already anyway, and they haven't even started the tournament yet! There is a certain level of arrogance there! The point of all this is to highlight the fact that this round of world class football will ignite low-life passions in a lot of people, and not all those passions will be good ones. Our national role models will not help our youth to tell the difference between winning and sportsmanship. Should we be worried? I think so.
It is salt in the wound when Scotland didn't even qualify. They didn't ever look close to getting there. Maybe that would have given me a little more incentive to check now and again, how they were doing. I doubt if I would have watched a full match anyway, but I might have had a little more than just a passing interest.
I have been thinking what it is that makes the world so interested and passionate about football, and especially the pinnacle of the World Cup. I have to give it to the teams for their passion, hard work, intense training, teamwork, rivalry, competitiveness, national pride, and all of these things spill over into the supporters.
So what's the other side of this competition? I watched a friendly spat between England and another team, where Wayne Rooney was cautioned for swearing and foul language. That's probably just the tip of a great big iceberg. What will happen when the World Cup starts for real? Now for the down side to balance all those good things said earlier. These 'role models' (and I am especially thinking of our England team) will be seen and heard to be (the media are everywhere), bad tempered, foul mouthed, non-sportsmanlike on and off the pitch (how many Scots want anyone at all to beat England?), petty, argumentative with the ref, foul, dive all over the pitch, pull, punch, kick and drag their opponents if they think they are not being seen, and that's not to mention the tears and tantrums if they get beaten. The closer they get to the final, the worse all of these things will get.
Well, maybe not. After all, according the UK media, our national team, England, have won already anyway, and they haven't even started the tournament yet! There is a certain level of arrogance there! The point of all this is to highlight the fact that this round of world class football will ignite low-life passions in a lot of people, and not all those passions will be good ones. Our national role models will not help our youth to tell the difference between winning and sportsmanship. Should we be worried? I think so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)