England 3 Denmark 0 - here we are in the last eight (My diary of match reports World Cup 2002)

Member Name: cabletow

Product:	My diary of match reports World Cup 2002
Date:	15/06/02 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the last eight

Disadvantages: it has taken 36 years to do it

Its coming home, its coming home, football is coming home.
I am not a real footie fan but now it is all change. The green hills of England have swollen with pride and England is through to the quarter finals of the world cup, the monarchy is popular again and the words "I am proud to be English" are once again resounding through the hills.

Football is a barometer of our society; it is a bench mark of how we feel about ourselves and after beating Denmark 3-0 we are in seventh heaven.

This world cup tournament has been like no other. The favourites have gone, the defending champions are home and we are still in it. This is England's best chance to bring football home. Only 3 games left between now and that dream that has eluded every school boy for 36 years. Oh yes I know we must face Brazil, Italy and Germany still. But the belief is now there and for once the English team looks like it could do it.

The game was frantic for a disillusioned fan such as I. From the off the Danish looked the more nervy and they stuck to there short passing game as if it was the only game they knew. The English were surer of themselves and by half way through the first half despite only having 30 percent of the possession they were 2-0 up and we started to believe. After Heskey finally scored England's third we looked like world champions, assured on the ball and calm in defence.

The second half went to script; we sat back and watched the Danish play we let them create chance after chance yet our defence stood firm and after 1 minute of extra time the whistle blew and we were through to the last eight. 3-0 is a very respectable score and the country breathed a collective sigh of relief and jubilation. 36 years of hurt and here we are again in the top eight. Who would have believed it of the English football team?

Why is football so important to us all, especially us men. I think it is a form of religion. We have stars w
e worship. We give them vast gifts, or salaries and in return we expect them to live perfect lives. Not personal lives but lives on the football pitch. Lives we could not possibly emulate and lives that are better to any one else. For the last 36 years we have been denied this utopia as England have struggled to field a competitive team in any world championship. But in this jubilee year we have found the superstars we have yearned for in the likes of messers Beckham, Butt, Ferdinand, Scholes, Owen, Heskey, Sinclair, Campbell, Seaman, Mills, Cole, etc. We can all strive to achieve those lives yet very few of us make it. So we worship these deities at the altar we call television and our lives somehow become complete.

Yes I am mad. I have elevated the England team to a level that is well beyond reality. But that is what a good result can do. We can now feel proud of our team and that makes us feel proud about ourselves. Anything that does that certainly deserves star billing. The jubilee did it for most of us, some of us saw Lewis' victory over Tyson as another great step and now getting past the second round of the world cup into the last eight has added icing to the patriotic cake.

It is not over yet. We could go on to greater glory and then the team would be revered in history as high as the great 1966 team. The dream final for me, would it not be fantastic if it was England v Ireland?

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