I have no interest whatsoever in football

[dipsydoodle]

Football fans tell me that's because I live in Watford. :rofl:

However - I guess today is important.

Official Music Video: Shout by Shout for England (Feat. Dizzee Rascal and James Corden) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ern5Qb9NT2g

[T_i_B]

1. I have an interest in football....

...just not in the endless hyping of England we get with every tournament until they get knocked out.

[non sociopath skin]

2. Yes, I'm kind of interested in watching teams from other countries playing, too.

Amusing to see pubs festooned with international flags and one man and his dog watching the non-England games.

The Skin

[oldironside]

3. Funnily enough it's the same here in Germany.

A big interest in the German games (of course), you couldn't get into my local for the England USA game (and not just ex-pats, either), but the rest of the time it's no different to the UK - empty pubs and the main motivation for watching other teams being Schadenfreude.

However, sight of the week for me. I went up to the Reeperbahn to watch Germany/Ghana and as I approached one particular corner I was spotted by two young "ladies of the night". I set myself to bluff my way through (they are VERY insistent), but didn't need to. There was a muffled cheer from one of the nearby bars and they both dashed over to see if Germany had scored. False alarm, but I slipped through without having to explain how I was only out for a beer and the game. That's the power of football.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I have a feeling that a lot of the UK will grind to a halt

Sunday afternoon when we play Germany.

[oldironside]

5. That's true of both countries.

There has been a lot of rubbish in the UK papers over the last few days about how only the English see this as a special derby. They are talking about nothing else except "Die Engländer". The front page of Bild today had the eleven commandments to beat the English (the last one was "We have to make it to the penalty shoot out"), and I just endured Gunther Netzer droning on after the Uruguay/Korea game. The endless discussions about penalties suggest the Germans aren't too confident for once. In reality it's just as important for them, but they don't like to admit it.

[dipsydoodle]

6. A long time ago

my neighbour who had married a German girl, was in Germany in a pub , when we beat them in 1966. He dreaded to think what would happen when the match ended but the crowd in there picked him up and carried him around on their shoulders.

[oldironside]

7. I can well believe it.

I think we just express our love for the game in different ways. I read an interview in the Hamburger Morgen Post yesterday with a German who had played in England for one of the minor sides (can't remember which). He said that basically the majority of the English are just expressing our black sense of humour and there's no malice in it. When I think back to the famous Carling Black Label advert I think he was right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVSBtivbUs4

On a phone in I was watching earlier one of the callers refered to England having one star on our shirts. "If there had been a camera in the goal in '66, they wouldn't even have that."

Yeah, if you give it out, you've got to take it.

For the record, I went up to my local filling station to get some beer for the USA/Ghana game tonight. The guy who served me thinks England will win 1-0, and my purchases cost exactly €5.66. So, 5 for the 5-1 in Munich, and 66 for... Yeah, okay I can dream.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. On the other hand, the Octopus Has Spoken

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/10420131.stm

and who'd argue with a psychic octopus?

[oldironside]

9. Na....

... I'd go with the bloke from the filling station every time. They're the fount of all human knowledge.

But if you really want to read bollocks about the England/Germany game, go here.

http://www.football365.com/mailbox/story/0,17033,8744_6228495,00.html

[dipsydoodle]

10. According to my daughter, 'er who knows such stuff,

statistically, England are more likely to win when a match is on BBC1 as opposed to an ITV channel.

And this afternoon's match is on BBC1

Whoopee.

[T_i_B]

13. Somebody round my way was flying a German flag from his house before the match!

I can't work out if that was really brave or exceptionally stupid. He'd taken it down by the time I'd got back from the pub after the match though.

[non sociopath skin]

11. Looks as if the England side don't have much interest in it either.

"Say goodnight, Wayne".

The Skin

[fedsron2us]

12. Waiting for the Murdoch press to start calling for Capellos head

Even though the raw stats suggect he is one of the world best 5 managers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Capello

Truth is that Murdoch, Sky Sports, the FA have created a Frankenstein monster in the form of the much vaunted Premier League which seems seem to have a malign impact on the players who spend time in it.

The England team are obvious flops but it is worth noting that some other duds such as France have more than a smattering of current or former players from the Worlds 'Greatest Football League' in their ranks. In addition the African nations seem to have gone from being the games rising stars back to also rans now that so many of them spend their time blunting their skills in the English League. Ironically the German Bundesliga which lacks the money of its English counterpart seems to have no difficulty churing out winning teams. Maybe we need to entice more of their players over here to ruin their game before the next encounter.