Pride

I felt deflated yesterday after England's defeat to Russia in the Euro 2008 Qualifier. Not as deflated as some friends of mine who travelled all the way to Russia only to be prevented by Robocop from collecting their tickets - they had to watch the game in a hotel bar - but still pretty pissed off.



We looked fairly comfortable for most of the game, but after Russia's equalising goal we fell apart - no organisation defensively. By the end our players' body language conveyed a lack of confidence / belief / desire.



Compare & contrast this with our Rugby team, who have turned around an appalling defeat in the group stages of the World Cup to South Africa, and within two weeks have dumped 2 of the favourites (one the host, the other our arch rivals) out of the tournament to set up a rematch vs the Springboks in the final.



Talk about inspiring! The rugby's not been pretty but even the staunchest critics of England's style have been in awe at our spirit & endeavour. These guys have given everything for the cause.



So what's the difference? We were having a debate about this in the office today at work. Our discussion centred around the singing of the national anthems before the game. Compare and contrast:



1. The Rugby team, arms around shoulders, all taped up heads & cauliflower ears, belting out every word, with passion & emotion pouring out of every pore.



2. Our overpaid, well-pampered footballers, some of them mumbling the words, others staring into space. I swear, some of them are listening to their i-pods.



Maybe this is a bit harsh. Some of players DO care, and some of them do know the words to God Save The Queen. Is it a rugby vs football thing? One of my colleagues pointed out that the rugby players probably had to sing the national anthem every day at school, so they should know it pretty well by now!! However, other football nations sing their anthems with more gusto than ours.



Perhaps GSTQ isn't as rousing as other national anthems. As an example, I really like the Italian one (Il Canto degli Italiani if you're interested), and surprisingly I like the French La Marseillaise. No, this shouldn't be an excuse. English by the Grace of God, and all that.



Maybe it's players' personal preferences. Some might feel the need to be professional, and focus on the game ahead. Others might be bursting with pride on the inside, but externally they appear calm. Gary Neville is patriotic, but I've read somewhere that he doesn't sing because he is anti Monarchy.



Whatever it is, I wish the English football team would take a leaf out of their rugby counterparts, and sing GSTQ with some pride and passion. I've seen rugby players bursting with so much patriotic pride that they're crying during their anthems - what sort of message would this send to the opposition, and to the fans who would give their right gonad to pull on the shirt? Wednesday night's performance was summed up for me by Rio Ferdinand's half hearted attempt to stop Russia's 2nd goal going in. Most of the fans watching would have thrown their bodies on the line - Rio was probably wondering about what to spend his £100k per week wages on.