FORGET HISTORY ENJOY ENGLAND ...GOOD AND BAD!
THERE is no treachery in wishing England well at the World Cup. Laughing at the failure that seems their inevitable end will not condemn you as a prisoner of poisonous history, either. For too long, attitudes to England in major tournaments were read as political declarations.
Pro-England? Bloody west Brit. Anti-England? Narrow-minded republican fellow traveller.
Opinions polarised when it came to the English in big competitions. They reached more European Championships and World Cups than we did; we were familiar with their players because we supported English clubs, and so their fate interested a great many Irish people.
Because fans here devoted so much time, money and thirst to the club game over there, an outsider might suppose that the English national team would attract Irish support on those frequent occasions when we did not qualify.
That was to ignore history; not just the complicated history between the two countries but also the history of watching England stub their toes and then laughing uproariously.
Complaining about the stupidity and arrogance of analysts on the BBC and ITV was practically an inherited trait in Irish supporters, as faithfully passed through the generations as eye colour.
But there were all kinds of justifications for wishing t hei r national team ill: 800 years, the nastiness of some of their supporters, the delusion of their pundits.
The peace process in the North helped to expose s o me o f the coarser and more hidebound motivations, but so did education and travel; Irish people simply shed many of the hang-ups that had weighed down our forebears.
Now, there are different, perfectly serviceable reasons to anticipate England’s disappointment. Finding Wayne Rooney objectionable might be one, and the inevitable shots of some of their fans with faces painted and dressed up like fleshy, boozedup crusaders is another.
Equally, an Irish adult in thrall to Manchester United can transfer their passion for Rooney to the World Cup and they can hope his country give him the conditions in which he can thrive along with Messi, Oscar and Muller.
What matters is that a person’s attitude to England no longer doubles as a political position. History can be studied and considered without being taken as an instruction manual for 21st-century attitudes. Witness some of the considered and informative accounts of recent days dealing with the Irish involvement in the D-Day landings. It is difficult to imagine that kind of analysis getting such a general airing even a generation ago.
The wider distribution of information is important as well. Time was when the World Cup data available to an Irish audience was sourced in England, and so the focus on South America and Africa, and even other parts of Europe, was glancing.
An English-centric tournament view was inevitable. One of the most popular articles circulated through social media in recent weeks was a profile of Luis Suarez by an American sports website. A reporter’s account of trying to verify an incident from Suarez’s youth, involving endless meetings in the coffee shops of Montevideo was outstanding, and proof of how better informed is a World Cup audience nowadays.
There are hundreds of accounts of the attacking limitations of Brazil easily within reach of the casual fan, and the social and political roots of Belgium’s vaunted generation have been teased out in supplements.
Money and technology shrank the world. The media are better informed and the result is a more sophisticated viewing public. The reaction when Newcastle signed Mirandinha is still a vivid memory; it was 27 years ago, he was the first Brazilian to play in the English game and people seriously wondered how he would manage in the cold. That was just 1987, but it reads now like something from Victorian times.
Just about everything has changed… just about. Some old certainties are harder to surrender. One is that Italy are cuter at tournament play than anybody else. The failings of England have been listed for weeks, but the Italian squad of 23 features 20 from Serie A. Italian clubs have won just five of the 22 European Cups since that competition became the Champions League. Milan were the only club from the country to reach the last 16 of last season’s competition , where they lost to Atletico Madrid. The last Italian side to win the Europa League were Parma in 1999.
England, Spain and Germany all rank ahead of the Italian domestic game, yet their achievement in winning the World Cup eight years ago just buttresses a mighty reputation for order, control and achievement.
THE ENGLISH have a very different reputation, and one that was also earned over time. It is for technical deficiency, unsophisticated tactics, indiscipline and a ridiculous herd of partners tottering around after the team like silicone implants given matchstick limbs.
And all of the advances in how we perceive and cheer the World Cup still leaves us in the company of stereotypes as we wait for England versus Italy on Saturday night. Ignore the fact that Ireland competed well against the Italians, or that they drew 1-1 with Luxembourg.
Forget about the vibrant young talents available to Roy Hodgson if he only lets them break free. An Italy of cynicism and first-touch precision are expected to best an England of hot heads and lumpen miscues.
Cheer for whoever pleases you, the days when Irish fans would reflexively back Italy are gone. There won’t be many crosses of St George fluttering from Irish windows but England are no longer an obsession. They are another story in the joyous month that lies ahead.
Do not count on them being around when the final tale is told.