Ah, the traditional racist Scot.
Take it to the Pit.
The English are not a race.
I still say that a whole lot of the antipathy that the English team get from the rest of the UK is down to idiot commentators who, ignoring that they are broadcasting to the UK, start wittering about ‘our boys’, “the nation’s hope’s” and (an actual quote from the other night) “I’m sure you all at home are devasted too”. Why should non-English viewers be devasted by England’s defeat? I wasn’t in the least. It was a pretty good game, exciting at the end, and the better team won.
So there was a particular delight in seeing Terry Venable’s, Des Lynam’s, etc faces after the defeat. Sorry, nothing personal against the England team, or racist about it.
What sort of bigotry is it, then?
Say it all you like, you’re still wrong. Tim Henman plays for the UK, but during Wimbledon I’ve seen signs outside bars here saying “Come see Henman lose on our big screen TV!” and heard Scots saying they want anyone but Henman to win. Funnily enough, it’s usually the same people who, when the Scotland side have failed to qualify as usual, participate in the festivities by supporting “anyone but England” and jeering at every English defeat.
I don’t want to break it to the Sweaties but the English SIMPLY DON’T CARE about any antipathy (most of it is in a light hearted vein anyway).
It is the definition of a two bob country to care about another country’ s sucess or otherwise.
That’s why when you get into a Final (it does sometimes happen - remember Ally’s Army, Iran, Peru etc) we support you. It’s because we’re not two bob.
Thankfully for me, the Jocks and the English get on fine (I am living proof of this having an English father and Scottish mum).
Meanwhile…back at the football…
I think the Englsih bookies are giving away money. You can get evens on the Dutch to beat the Germans. This current German side looks weak to me, and the Dutch is full of talent (if they can ever stop squabbling with one another). It’s got to be worth a score. (However I am the reason that bookies drive Bentleys).
Also - What’s the flag situation near you? Here in very sunny SW London they are EVERWHERE. (and yes, the kid’s pester power means that I have them on my car too (not that it took TOO much persuading to be honest).
I’m inclined to agree. Luckily, no injury from the looks of it.
As for tonight’s match, may the best team win. Seeing as we can consider you half a Dutchman anyway, I’m sure you won’t mind that the best team is in this case dressed in orange. 
owl, the flag situation is pretty quiet here in Amsterdam. The Dutch are not real flag wavers to begin with, to be honest. Usually, the areas that are highly decorated with orange banners and whatnot are, shall we say, lower class. Which is not to say that everyone else hates football, they just aren’t that “public” about it. Needless to say, my neighbourhood looks pretty much the same as always. 
Latest rumours: Sneijder and Bouma will start on the bench, and Advokaat will field Zenden and Frank fucking de Boer as starters. :eek:
Let’s hope those are just rumours. 
The Dutch will never get anywhere with “The Little General” at the helm. He has no sense of teambuilding and relys on loyalty way too much. He never tries to keep egos in check, and in the dutch squad, that can be dangerous!
when the Media in England (and te majority of the fans) start to realise that not everyone watching or reading is a card carrying member of the Barmy army and stop relying on cheap xenophobia to justify their own hype, then I’ll stop enjoying seeing England get beaten.
Sorry I don’t get this at all. fair enough the likes of the Sun etc can get rather jingoistic, and indeed can totally lose the plot (Gazza and Pearce in tin hats V Germany etc), but most England fans have a complete indifference to the opinions of other nations, especially knee-jerk antipathy.
It simply doesn’t bother us, if it bothers those abroad, why don’t they just ignore us? It’s not like there aren’t other options.
Gents, if you please. There’s probably a better place to discuss football-related nationalism, IMHO. This thread was going along nicely - there’s no need for this here.
Twisty, I’m afraid I have to agree with your assessment of Advokaat. He’s crap. I just have this burning hope that the squad will make it on quality alone, you know? 
Fairy Nuff.
I have had a score on the Dutch v Germans, so come on the Orangemen!
Also…I think it’s terribly unfair on Deadly Ledley that he’s going to lose his place to a 3/4 fit Terry, following his display against France (England’s MOTM IMHO).
I think putting Terry in is a mistake, and I think Sven is doing it because he thinks the Swiss won’t be up to much. Letting terry get his match fitness at least makes they have three central defenders to pick from who have played.
I think Hakan Yakin will be the fatal flaw in Sven’s plan though.
Oh god, I hope so. I don’t even know what Frank f****ing de Boer is doing on the national team. If I was Advocaat this would be my team:
keeper: van der Sar
defenders: Reiziger, Heitinga, Stam, Bouma
midfield: Cocu, Davids, van der Vaart
attackers and wingers: Zenden, van der Meyde, Makaay
It was hard choosing between van Nistelrooy and Makaay, but I think Makaay would be better against the German defense, because he is a little quicker and shows more movement off the ball.
Also, I would play a 4-3-3 with two wingers (Zenden and van der Meyde) and a central attacker (Makaay). Germany should be weak along the sides, and will be susceptible to nice passes and crosses into the defenders’ backs. If either Zenden or van der Meyde are not healthy, you could use Overmars or Robben instead.
I posted this on NADS, but i’ll say it again here. I am of the opinion that Heskey has something on Sven, some terrible secret he found out or something. I can see no other reason for his constant inclusion in the England team, as both here and everyone else I know IRL are baffled by his constant blundering/falling over/failure to do anything on a pitch but fuck up.
Start with Darius Vassell instead of Owen. He plays better. And Beckham doesn’t appear to be the player he once was. Why on Earth would you have him take a penalty against a goalie (Barthez) he played and trained with for years? Of course he’s going to know which way he’ll kick it. Junior mistake. Should have been Vassell or Rooney to take it.
I’ll first off qualify this post by saying I think Holland will beat Germany. However, I think it’ll be a tight game. Even though the German lynchpin players have not been at their best this season, you have to remember that they seem to have a nasty habit of getting it together for the really important games - just look at their performance in the last World Cup for a pretty recent example.
I’m thinking 2-1, but with the winner only coming in the last 5-10 minutes.
plugs fingers in ears
LA LA LA LA LA LA LAAAAAAAAA!
Mycroft, are you looking for a job? I’ll gladly appoint you coach of the national team. That’s exactly the line-up I would favour. And we’re not alone - it’s what Cruijff favours, too. 4-3-3 because it always works best for us, Mackaay against the Germans. Period.
I, too, have to agree with Twistoffate. Sorry, Coldfire. Keep your fingers in your ears for a while.
The egos of the Dutch players are gigantic. And I truly don’t believe in their loyalty. I don’t think Advokaat is all at fault here. Mark my words: The Dutch score once and the rest of the game they’ll think they’ve won. No more running after a ball. The precious guys may get tired.
I think the German still have the fighting spirit. They’ll stop running when the game is over.
Germany - Holland: 2-1
What is it with the Dutch? They are always squabbling and throwing their dollies out the pram. I know stereotypes are lazy, but the British stereotype of the dutch is laid back, unexcitable, easy going (see the Grolsch adverts fior an example).
Yet the footballers are fractious egomaiacs.
How come?
owlstretchingtime, Money? Lots of it?
Nope that’s not it. They were like that in the Cruyff days and probably before.
All footballers are overpaid, but they don’t fight amongst themselves like the Dutch do. All That talent and they simply don’t seem to get it together as a team.
Still I hope they win tonight.
Hey, stop knocking the Mighty Dutch Lion!
Not until they lose, anyway.
Can they call Frank Rijkaard back up to spit in Rudi Vollers face again?
That was class!