We’ll miss England
Jun 28, 2010
FROM a neutral perspective, it was great to see Germany progress past a hapless England team to the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon. It was a fitting reward for the players and for coach Joachim Loew who has transformed the side that is both admirable and infectious.
By Fred Kaweesi
in Bloemfontein
FROM a neutral perspective, it was great to see Germany progress past a hapless England team to the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon. It was a fitting reward for the players and for coach Joachim Loew who has transformed the side that is both admirable and infectious.
It was also a fitting reward for the way they play the game. Loew’s Germany is an attacking machine. That has been obvious since their first game against Australia and was evident against England.
Two weeks ago, three German friends accused me of a disgusting anti-German bias because of the article I had written of how German are Germany’s strikers? In that column, I pointed out that there was nothing to be proud of since none of Germany’s strikers (Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez, Claudemir Cacau and Lukas Podolski) were fully German.
At the Free State Stadium, the three mocked me but I cared less as Germany were deserved winners.
One of my regrets though, is we’ll miss England’s WAGS (players’ Wives and Girlfriends) and the drama that the English had brought to the tournament.
In the build-up to the World Cup, England boss Fabio Capello had told his players that he did not want wives and girlfriends in South Africa as they would turn out a distraction from football. The Italian was indeed right. These WAGS can be distractive.
I must admit, I missed Thomas Mueller’s third goal, admiring the WAGS, seated four rows behind me. Watching Glen Johnson’s wife Laura, John Terry’s wife Toni Poole, Frank Lampard’s Christine Bleakley and Emile Heskey’s wife scream and yell was striking.
How about missing the bubble in which the England team existed here? We’ll miss the luxurious comfort of the English media centre and the sumptuous buffets in particular.
But it’s not just me that is sad. Beer companies and bar entrepreneurs are inconsolable.
The English were the highest consumers of Miller Lite, Peroni and Grolsh brands produced by South African brewers SABMiller – consuming an average of 2.5 million liters in the last three weeks.
We’ll miss ‘God Save The Queen’ but certainly not the team. It was pathetic!
in Bloemfontein
FROM a neutral perspective, it was great to see Germany progress past a hapless England team to the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon. It was a fitting reward for the players and for coach Joachim Loew who has transformed the side that is both admirable and infectious.
It was also a fitting reward for the way they play the game. Loew’s Germany is an attacking machine. That has been obvious since their first game against Australia and was evident against England.
Two weeks ago, three German friends accused me of a disgusting anti-German bias because of the article I had written of how German are Germany’s strikers? In that column, I pointed out that there was nothing to be proud of since none of Germany’s strikers (Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez, Claudemir Cacau and Lukas Podolski) were fully German.
At the Free State Stadium, the three mocked me but I cared less as Germany were deserved winners.
One of my regrets though, is we’ll miss England’s WAGS (players’ Wives and Girlfriends) and the drama that the English had brought to the tournament.
In the build-up to the World Cup, England boss Fabio Capello had told his players that he did not want wives and girlfriends in South Africa as they would turn out a distraction from football. The Italian was indeed right. These WAGS can be distractive.
I must admit, I missed Thomas Mueller’s third goal, admiring the WAGS, seated four rows behind me. Watching Glen Johnson’s wife Laura, John Terry’s wife Toni Poole, Frank Lampard’s Christine Bleakley and Emile Heskey’s wife scream and yell was striking.
How about missing the bubble in which the England team existed here? We’ll miss the luxurious comfort of the English media centre and the sumptuous buffets in particular.
But it’s not just me that is sad. Beer companies and bar entrepreneurs are inconsolable.
The English were the highest consumers of Miller Lite, Peroni and Grolsh brands produced by South African brewers SABMiller – consuming an average of 2.5 million liters in the last three weeks.
We’ll miss ‘God Save The Queen’ but certainly not the team. It was pathetic!