Wales in the rugby, England in the football. That’s how it always was. Although I was born in St. Asaph almost a quarter of a century ago, I have spent most of my life living away from the country of my birth, instead growing up on a floating rock of prejudice known as the Isle of Wight.
When you’re a young Welsh lad living in England, you better prepare for two things:
1. Sheep-shagging jokes
2. More sheep-shagging jokes
I wish I could say it was juvenile xenophobia that drove me to assimilate into English culture and support them in the football, just for dramatic effect. No, it’s much more simple than that. The Welsh football team was terrible. They played boring football, struggled to conquer the mighty San Marino, and never really inspired much. When you compare the squads they’ve had over the past couple of decades to the likes of Beckham, Rooney, Ferdinand, Lampard, Gerrard, and many more, what’s a boy to do? Safe in the knowledge that I had some English blood in me that would excuse my “treachery”, I prepared for glory.
It never came and never looked like it would. One of my earliest memories of football is watching England vs. Argentina at France ’98: Owen’s magical solo goal, Beckham’s naive red card; the anguish of losing a penalty shoot-out. In the years that followed, the same pattern emerged: a squad of immense talent overwhelmed by the pressure at every major tournament.
It’s always been plain to see why England never perform on the big stage. The nation simply expects too much. Every damning headline from the incensed media has had some of the best players of any generation left with the sports equivalent of PTSD. They always play with fear, knowing that the lynch mob is never far away in case of failure. I admittedly used to be just another member of the mob, pitchfork and flame on a stick at the ready.
That’s why it’s been so refreshing to support Wales at Euro 2016. Having followed their qualifying campaign with some interest, watching them beat the odds to reach their first international tournament in many decades, I knew I would have a tough decision to make: England or Wales? When crunch time arrived and the two teams met at the group stages, I opted for Wales.
Even though Wales lost that match and didn’t perform as well as we all knew they could, I wasn’t disappointed in them. I didn’t feel the need to vent on social media asking for them to face a jury for war crimes, as so many England fans feel is necessary. I was proud. Wales didn’t look despondent and didn’t allow it to take a toll on them mentally. They went straight back to business and thumped Russia in their next match.
Wales play like a team who are enjoying their football, as if they don’t have the crushing weight of 50 million expectant people to deal with every time they kick a ball. Each and every Welsh player takes to the field like they want to do their country proud and to simply do their best. Whenever England play a game of competitive football, the anxiety cripples them, leaving them looking more like kittens than lions. And who can blame them? The country demands greatness all the time, sometimes forgetting that in terms of quality and nous, the players just simply aren’t as good as their foreign peers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdnRSCW3LTc
The argument has been made that England’s players are overpaid and that they just don’t care enough. Although there is a case to be made there, that isn’t entirely fair. England went crashing out of Euro 2016 not because they had no shits to give, but because they had too many. They felt the pressure too greatly and it impacted them against Iceland, which is why eleven (mostly) quality players went missing in the second half.
I know that Wales probably won’t win it all at Euro 2016, and that’s okay. The tournament has brought the country together as we acknowledge that a squad that boasts the world’s most expensive player and, conversely, a free agent who was last seen in the Championship are just doing all they can. If England ever want to reach a semi-final or final again, a bit of realism could go a long way.
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