The footballers from Ghana ply their trade at the top European clubs – from Manchester City, to Villa Real to Atalanta, to St Etienne, Wolfsburg to Auxerre. These are tough professional players – fit, talented and highly skilled.
They are proud to represent their nation and will battle and compete for every ball, for every advantage.
England should beat them.
It won’t be easy but the result should be positive.
Nothing is certain.
Come On England.
The game of football grew from the world of work – from communities held together by economic ties.
3pm afternoon kick off times were to allow people to work Saturday morning. Football teams grew by Uniting the players from a geographical area. The factory owners, the local capitalists owned the teams.
To play football you need nothing – except a spherical object. The game always took root in places where the people had nothing. And the game offered people who had nothing, but rare talent, everything a man could dream of.
For the rest it gave a sense of identity, of watching the stars, the stars who are like us, the proxy sense of achievement and triumph.
Its the game of the working man and the total meritocracy. Talent and ability is all that matters. But you also have to work.
The sun is shining. In England people are wearing their football shirts.
And flying their flags.
It is a beautiful country – the home of the beautiful game.
Its coming home.
Come On England.
After the game the England team celebrated with the fans singing Wonderwall, the popular Oasis song.
The chorus is “You’re gonna be the one that saves me” ..
… and maybe, the World Cup, stretching through to July will indeed be the one that saves us.
Maybe.
Football unites in the same way that politics divides. Football is the best of every country, of every man.
Hold tight and hope. This is our England.
It could be coming home.
Come On, England.
A young Harry Kane – playing for Leyton Orient.
Football goes deep in our way of life. It is in every town and city.
The game we gave the world.
Is it coming home ?
No-one knows the outcome.
There is nothing left to say.
Come On England.
It makes no sense. You travel thousands of miles to watch a game of football.
But its brilliant.
You see other fans, supporters, followers – on the same mission. There is a gathering and a convergence and a massing of fellows. The excitement builds.
The flock grows and the noise increases. The mob expands and sings. It is rowdy and good natured but beyond polite. The humour is random and funny. The opposition are maybe taunted a bit.
There are shirts and colours and flags and hats. The camaraderie is exquisite – help is always at hand.
Then you share the emotions of the game. The joy and sometimes the despair.
In some foreign land you are following England away.
This year we have to go to the United States of America. If we can, if we dare, if its possible, we follow England away.
The players are talking up a brotherhood. It starts on the streets, and in the parks and all those days when kicking a ball was solace against the world. When under English skies, while those clouds skudded over hills and cities, we played our game, the game we gave the world.
Its 60 years since we won. Hold us.
Its England away.
Come on England.
It is Monday today. It is Tuesday tomorrow. Then it is the first match day of Englands world cup campaign. Kick off against Croatia – 9pm London time.
It really does not matter who starts the game for England – or who finishes on the pitch. It does not matter who scores. The result does matter. Why not post a decent win. Why not?
Sure Croatia qualified well and are a decent team. Thy are a great small time footballing nation. It would be best if England crush them and elevate themselves onto the tier one of team in this competition. Why not ?
We know its not always like that. No reason why a competent Croatia could not cause a major prang. It happens. It often happens to England. Somehow not this time.
The country England, the place, the largest part of Britain, the dominant nation of the United Kingdom has been a little wracked, almost struggling, like a teenager, with its identity. There has been a certain amount of ferment on the streets.
But this is football and your heart cannot lie. You can wear the shirt, three lions on your chest – or lose yourself in euphoria and rip it off to celebrate. The game consumes you. The passion is for the games you played with your friends, your mates, the days spent in parks and playing field under an English sky laughing.
We played a thousand world cups in pick up games. We lay in bed and dreamed of glory.
A sweet hit volley in a 7 – aside was a a winning strike – we beat Brasil with headers and saved penalties from Germany.
Thousands will be living this dream in Dallas. England fans. The famous and the fabulous.
An edge to the roar – bring on the drama. Let it be.,
Come On, England.
On June 17 Croatia face England with their squad of experienced and tournament hardened professionals – all used to playing at the top tier of European football.
Six players of their expected starting 11 are 32 years old or over. They have been second and third in the last two world cups. Their main man, Modric, is 40 years old.
It is a very difficult game against a quality team. It has always been the case that by carrying Henderson in the squad the midfield options are restricted by one less. If you want industrial type battling mileage to overrun the ageing Croats then Mainoo has to go in alongside Rice and Anderson. The fancy dans of Rogers, Bellingham and Eze can wait.
Upfront you could start with Toney to throw them around a bit and give Rashford more time. A game of two halves and if its not won by the interval the top boys will need a run out. But that is for Mr. Tuchel to sort out.
It looks like a difficult fixture but a good one to win. If England are serious it should be hard work but essentially simple and doable.
The German manager of the England team commented on the presence of the England fans in the stadium. He can “feel their energy.” Well done Thomas – you are beginning to understand. There is nothing better in the world than being an England fan.
Its a top of the pile feeling.
Is it coming home ?
Come On England.
Tuchel is the latest in a long line of managers given the task of taking a group of professional footballers from England to win the World Cup. Since the quiet man, Sir Af Ramsey, they have all failed.
The Lions have truly been led by donkeys and the donkeys have showreels of the farcical wastage of generations of good footballers. Choose your highlights ..
We had Wally with the Brolly at Wembley and hopeless Hodgson losing to Iceland after a day out on the river in Paris. There was very well paid Sven enjoying the job status with a selection of glamourous ladies and big Sam shooting his mouth off over wines up North somewhere.
Super Don Revie ran off to Saudi and Capello never bothered talking to the players. Glen thought training was an opportunity to show off his skills after he had destroyed the most talented England player since Bobby Charlton.
The documentary featuring Graham Taylor was a comedy classic and Howard Wilkinson is a memory lapse – just tedious. And then there are the nearly men.
Bobby Robson jacked it in before Italia 90 started and this let the players play and work it out for themselves. Gascoigne and Lineker ran riot and the semi-final was lost with the German bench blagging a yellow for the England star before the usual penalty incompetence saw us out.
Terry Venables had home advantage and knew the England game and England footballers but Gareth Southgate enabled a German strut around Wembley after sticking his hand up to take a penalty. He definitely should not have put his hand up. A very poor decision.
Southgate repeated his Wembley poor penalty decision making by asking young inexperienced internationals to take the decisive penalties in the final of the Euros. It was some sort of proxy projection of his own nightmares and just stupid. He never had the killer touch. He guided a powerful team to the Euros final in 2024 but never unleashed the Lions. They succumbed to a talented Spain.
Now we have a neurotic looking German in charge. He has dropped Maguire. He has dropped Palmer. No-one knows what Henderson is doing there – is he just TT’s chief sneak?
This is the England team of Harry Kane, Pickford, Bellingham, Rashford, Saka, Rice. England players. England footballers from our towns and cities. Let the players loose and let the manager arrange the cones and check the menus.
We are on our way.
Come on England.
The World Cup is coming.
It will unite people from all around the world – it will bring people together.
Football is the universal language; of excellence and endeavour, of fate and fortune.
Get ready for the passion and the love and the loss. Luck and despair.
It is the universal brotherhood – a game played across the planet. Everywhere.
And the greatest show on earth.
Hold tight it’s coming.
Our England will be there.
Come On England.
England – Road to the Final – EURO 2024
England fail to get over the line again in 2-1 loss to Spain
Homeward bound. Next chance to end sixty years of hurt, America 2026.
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