{"id":26253,"date":"2014-06-10T09:57:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T14:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=26253"},"modified":"2014-06-10T10:32:18","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:32:18","slug":"englands-world-cup-team-wheres-the-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2014\/06\/10\/englands-world-cup-team-wheres-the-hype\/","title":{"rendered":"England’s World Cup team – where’s the hype?"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBC News Magazine<\/em> has expatriot Scot Jon Kelly<\/a> wondering where all the traditional pro-England hype has gone, compared to previous World Cup campaigns:<\/p>\n

The flags are missing from the cars. British newspapers aren’t heralding imminent victory. In pubs from Penrith to Plymouth there’s a distinct lack of gaiety, optimism and hope.<\/p>\n

I for one couldn’t be happier.<\/p>\n

As a Scotsman resident in London, I’ve come to dread the wildly delusional over-confidence that grips my adopted homeland every time an international football tournament is staged.<\/p>\n

The certainty of victory. The talk of a “golden generation”. The interminable references to 1966. And the inevitable splutterings of anguish when it’s eventually confirmed on the pitch that, actually, Germany or Argentina or Portugal are superior teams after all.<\/p>\n

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like all things Anglo very much. While Scotland will always be the national side I support, in spite of our dependable rubbishness, I’ve always felt the Anyone-But-England tendency among some of my fellow Scots diminishes our status as a self-confident, modern nation.<\/p>\n

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