The_Stranger
Malcolm
posts : 17
| I'm sitting here wondering why some people who are British but not English really hate to see England do well, Before I go any further I would like to point out that I consider myself British first and foremost, I also happen to be 1/2 Scottish and 1/2 English altho I was born and raised in London. Whilst growing up I have, at various points in my life, whole heartedly supported England to the exclusion of Scotland, and also whole heartedly supported Scotland to the exclusion of England.
My current position is that I support all the teams of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland) when they compete against some one else. If Scotland or England were to play Wales, Ireland or Northern Ireland, then I would support Scotland or England, and if England were to play Scotland, I would find myself in a massive inner turmoil. I want to see both sides do as well as possible, and I normally just sit back and watch games of England v Scotland knowing that I am in a win/win situation. Living in England for 27 years I guess I do tend to be slightly biased towards England, however, I have always wanted to represent Scotland when it comes to actually competing for a country (I have had this belief since a 13 year school boy, in a central London school, and I had the piss ripped out of me when other people found out about this dream. I have managed to represent Scotland twice now as Captain of the Q3 CTF Squad (not quite what I had in mind when I was 13!)
Calling England shite when they reached the last 8 of the world cup, and are in 12 place in the cocacola/fifa list - if England are shite, what does that makre Ireland, who only made the last 16 and are in 15th place in the fifa list, or Scotland who didn't make the last 32 and are 54th on the list, Northern Ireland who also didn't make the last 32 and are 90th on the list and finally Wales who (you guessed it) didn't make the final 32 and are 96th on the list. Before you call England shite, think what that makes yourself. England may not be the best Football team in the world, but it is certainly not the worst, and indeed is better than 95% of all the countries in the world. So calling England shite at football calls 190 countries worse than shite at football.
Like I said before I don't have a problem supporting the other "home nations" mainly cos I have been to these countries, found that I share a lot in common with them (language, tastes, styles, etc) have been treated warmly, and have come away feeling that they are on the whole "the same as me" If I had had negative experinces with these countires (or more importantly the people from these countries) then I would feel justified in not wanting to support them, and imo this is the only reason you should not support your close neighbours. If you look at Scandinavia, you see countries like Norway and Finland backing sweden to do well, and on the face of it they have less reason to do so, than us in Britain. Of course if Norway were playing Sweden, then I would expect Norwegians to support their own country 
I just hope that all the people that live in the British Isles and are not English, but love to see England fail have had a bad personal experience with England or English people everytime they have experienced the country or it's people. If not then I can only assume you are are too thick to have your own oppinion count and are just going with the flow to look cool
The other charge often levelled at England is the over-reaction of the media if England do well (ie England beat Argentina so they will now win the World Cup) I have 2 things to say about that:
1) The English press are like that, extremist, one little win, and England are the best team in the world, one little loss and they are the worst team in the world, there is no middle ground with the Press.
2) Whats wrong with a bit of pride in ones own national team, There is no point in Entering somthing if you are not trying to win it (or at least do as well you can in it) If England had not conceded those goals either side of 1/2 time (2 momemnts of madness really in an otherwise decent [not brilliant, but decent] performance against one of the best teams in the world, then they would be in a really good chance of the Title, as it stands Brazil are now in that position, and I expect them to make the final, and barring any similar lapses by their own team to win it.
I am sure I have a lot more to say on this but It is too early on a Saturday Morning, I have a raging headache, a sore throat, and 2 kids to find breakfast for, so this will have to be your lot.
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