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[expletive deleted]
Good article in the Indian Express: “What makes football interesting is that it provides one of the few spheres in which ideas about identity, ethnicity and race can be expressed, embodied and performed.” The outcome, the authors maintain could either be the representation of nationhood as ‘a grotesque pageant of fixed archetypes’ or as a ‘carnival’ in which old divisions are breached.
War Minus the Shooting: Just about the only violence which did occur followed the defeat of the English side in their semi-final match against Germany - who eventually beat the Czech Republic to win the tournament. Following the exit from the competition of the England team some clashes occurred in various towns and cities across the country. In Trafalgar Square, where the media reports suggest the worst of the violence happened, German-made cars were attacked and other property identified as German was targeted. It was reported that a Russian man was seriously assaulted by an English crowd who, not minded to distinguish between foreigners, mistook him for a German.
From The Boot Room: In the Low Countries this summer we have had to squirm our way through the unedifying spectacle of badly disciplined young Englishmen, drifting aimlessly and aggressively from match to match, kicking the life out of wary foreigners - all in the name of football.
And that's just the players !
The fans too, at least an uncomfortably large portion of them, have reinforced the negative views the rest of Europe holds against us. So, no change there then.
From Footie 51: The Sun ran a story on 24th June urging the national side to “Blitz Fritz.” Whilst not to be outdone the Mirror’s front page featured the headline, “ACHTUNG! SURRENDER.”
It goes on and on and on. Some people blame the tabloids, others the fans, others the 'patriotism' which surrounds the game. You can't separate them. It's in the interest of those who make money from the game to keep the frenzy high. You can't blame it all on the newspapers, nor does can they evade responsibility entirely.
So no, I'm not dumping on football or 'squaddies' (do feel free to expand on that word, by the way). I'm registering a little skepticism at your unusually uncritical portrait. Have we finally found something you care about? Well, you won't make it better if you sit there and claim everything's fine when it patently isn't. |
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