I’m not a football fan, but I have a very special place in my heart for
Croatia. Am I really the only person who a) Thought they might win
before the match happened? and b) Can be glad for them, as well as
sympathetic to the losing side?
Are we really such bad losers that we couldn’t at least once say ‘well done’ to the winning team, or perhaps analyse why they won, rather than why England lost, and who’s head needs to roll?
I’m pretty sure that if it had been Germany or Brazil that had won, there’d be a lot of temperate shoulder-shrugging and admissions that the others were quite a good side, after all.
Instead of which, Croatia aren’t allowed to enjoy their victory on these shores, and the story is more about trying to sack McClaren than applaud the winners.
The subtext in all the reports I’ve heard is that it would have been OK to lose, but not to Croatia, for gawd’s sake! And why? Because they’re a bad team? Well, they’re evidently not a bad team. No, it’s because no-one really knows where Croatia is, and because for the tabloid public, they’re just one of those ridiculous East European countries that were parodied in the recent Borat movie, to whom every Brit is automatically superior, even if they can’t read, write or tie the shoelaces on their stolen trainers.
I wonder if this perception was in any way changed when Slaven Bili? spoke so eloquently in impeccable English about his team’s victory, having to explain gently but firmly to the reporters that Croatia won because they were the better team? It so happens that Bili? is fluent in German, English & Italian, as well as Croatian, and has a degree in Law. Oh, and had a number 1 hit in his home country with his band, Rawbau. When they find a comparable voice from British football to argue back, let me know.
