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England awaiting; discounting nothing
Editor’s Note: In less than a month, the US will face England in a first-round World Cup match in South Africa. The June 12 meeting is the first since the US’s 1-0 win in the 1950 World Cup. As the date nears, London-based blogger and football fanatic Nick Bruzon will be sharing some thoughts on the coming match and the English perspective.
Welcome to my blog which, despite being on ColoradoSoccerNow.com is actually from the other side of the Atlantic. And about football. As in, played with the foot , not the hand.
Although as an Englishman we’ll have to exempt the bloated whale of an ex-pro that is Diego Maradona (24 years on and that quarter final against Argentina STILL hurts).
However, coming from the nation which gave birth to the, so called, ‘beautiful game’ (and promptly watched it become an unruly teenager) I feel somewhat qualified to comment.
Now, before we begin I would just like to clear up a few things about England / myself and for those already in ‘the know’, my apologies. Firstly, despite what Hollywood may tell you, the vast majority of Englishmen are not a bunch of tousle haired, bumbling toffs in their late thirties who are too nervous to speak to girls. Think Hugh Grant in, oh, I don’t know… “Notting Hill,” “Love Actually” or that gumph about “Four Weddings” where he says a rude word an awful lot. Although ironically, I am a bumbling English snob in my late thirties who, despite being happily married, always seems to put my foot in my mouth when amongst female company. And I’d kill to still be ‘tousle-haired’.
Neither are we all a bunch of knuckle dragging Neanderthals, fond of the word ‘geezer’ and prone to duffing up rival supporters before, after and usually during every game. Taking another slight film related tangent, think Orlando Bloom (the pixie out of that snooze fest which was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Walk along. Have a fight. Walk along. Have a fight. Walk along. Run away from something. Walk along. Have a fight. Repeat ad nauseam for nine hours) in the straight to DVD release, ‘Green Street’, in which our protagonist falls in with a bunch of West Ham football hooligans. Whose local pub is, for some never explained reason, on the complete other side of Greater London. And I know because they used my local and my street to film it in.
But I digress, as ever. The point is, it doesn’t happen . We’re not all like that.
And so to business – assuming anyone is still reading and the editor has granted me some more room. One month to the day, as I write, England kick off their World Cup campaign against the U.S.A. I can’t wait. I’m filled with an equal measure of excitement and nervousness. On paper, England have never had a better chance of winning on foreign soul. The climate, pitches and time zone suit us. Our players are match fit, having just finished the season. And the over rated show pony that is David Beckham is injured. No time need be wasted on those tiresome debates about will he play, when will he play, is he past it? For the record, he is. Great in his day but please do yourself a favor and retire gracefully.
By the way, a big thank you to the LA Galaxy for signing him and thus ridding England of his ghastly media-whore wife, Victoria ( the allegedly posh one from pop music’s Spice Girls).
So what is there to fear? Specifically, the English have a remarkable ability to self destruct under pressure suddenly look very, very ordinary. John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, whilst both rock solid central defenders, have a turn of pace more suited to an oil tanker. Get the likes of Messi amongst those two and it could be carnage.
Before we even get that far though, there’s the first group game. I genuinely love the USA and the enthusiasm which they apply to anything they participate in. Football is no exception. Excusing the opening ceremony where Diana Ross missed THAT penalty, the 1994 World Cup was a fantastic tournament. My personal opinion is that you were robbed in 2002 whilst who could forget how you humiliated England in 1950. An event so significant that I understand next month the US team will be wearing a similar design kit to the one worn back then as a reminder to the English not to under estimate them.
Believe me, we don’t need reminding! With the likes of Landon Donovan, Brad Friedel and Clint Dempsey all playing well in our Premiership, write off the USA at your peril. I for one am thinking purely about winning that game. Lifting the trophy can wait for another day.
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