I was out on the town Saturday and so didn’t know what had happened until we walked past Trafalgar Square around 10 pm and heard the crowds. I’ve heard post-game mobs before, and this was a whole different sound: incredulous jubilation (for lack of a better description). But it wasn’t until we got home that we heard the score. Five-bloody one?!? What strange confluence of stars occurred, that England should pound Germany so mercilessly?
Ah well. Well done, lads, but let’s see how the next game goes.
Great result, but a poor opposition who could easily have scored 2 or 3 goals during the first half in which our defending was particularly poor.
I agree with those posters who argue that we should not get carried away by this result. We should be very excited about England’s future but there is still work to be done.
Oh and as a Liverpool fan I am feeling rather smug today!
Further to my earlier reply, the Said & Done column in today’s Observer also has a good set of comments from the tabs and from England supporters at the time of Sven’s appointment. Note to mod - this is only an excerpt, UKDopers can read the paper for the full glory of it.
The Sun, November 2000
‘What a climb-down. What an admission of decline. What a humiliation. What a terrible, pathetic, self-inflicted indictment. What an awful mess’
The Mirror Mirror Sport can reveal that Eriksson’s preferred method of play is one that is certain to dismay England fans.[ul]
[li]Too many long balls[/li][li]Too much boring, systematic play[/li][li]Stifling zone defence[/ul][/li] Jack Charlton
‘Eriksson knows nothing about English football. He has done a good job with a couple of clubs abroad but suddenly he becomes our messiah and I don’t agree with it. I think it’s a terrible mistake by the FA. A terrible mistake. It is a recipe for disaster.’ (some of you may recall Jack’s own discomfort when managing Ireland against England)
and Sun reader Mickey Brown, of Ascot, said:
‘We are now no longer England. We are the laughing Stock-holm of world football. What happens when we play Sweden, they score and Eriksson jumps in the air and kisses Henrik Larsson?’ (he seems to missed his vocation as a Sun headline writer, but I think we can leave the Larsson-kissing to our friend ruadh)
The article also includes some hilarious/stupid remarks German players made before the game, but they’ve been doing the rounds via e-mail so I’ll assume you’ve read them.
