World Cup Fever 2002

'Has this country gone completely F**king mad. Everywhere I look there are little St George crosses on cars and vans. We have Red, White & Blue day today at work and there are geeza's with full face paint and coloured hair!’
-Elliot (a New Zealander trapped in London)

The fever has hit. Extremely contagious, it’s an infection worming it’s way through young and old alike. It makes 50 year old businessmen paint their faces in England’s colours. It makes pubs that don’t allow football colours to be worn by patrons, turn their establishments into one big English flag. It makes young boys want to be England’s Captain, David Beckhem and little girls to be his wife Victoria aka Posh Spice - legendary amongst footballers wives. Today the madness starts. And it will only get worse. Just imagine if they win-

Here in London, the Union Jack and St. George’s Flags are decorating shop windows, hanging out of doorways and plastered to alleys and pub walls. Rumbling garbage trucks and mini cabs display their country’s pride attached by extra heavy-duty tape flapping in the wind. Even a little girl outside my work had Red, White and Blue braided into her hair. Cute but what has happened here? What has taken over everyone’s brains and turned them into Football Junkies?

The World Cup. Every four years a great tournament takes place in the fight to the death to find out who reigns supreme in the land of football. This year, 32 countries are pitted against each over in Japan and Korea in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. England has been grouped against both Argentina and Nigeria, both unbeatably the best teams in their respective regions. This group has been named the ‘Group of Death’ placing hereditary rivals in the same qualifying group. Will England prevail? The non-English say no way, but not too loudly against a nation who’s staking its reputation on a group of unruly footballers. We shall soon see what all the fuss is about.

Unfortunately I don’t think I can truly understand. I come from a place where hockey reigns supreme. Where the biggest thing that came every four years was the winter Olympics cause that’s when Canada had a fighting chance at winning something. (I don’t know how many school reports I had to write on the one in ‘92!) Even though the US and Mexico on in on the whole World Cup thing, football (or what we call soccer) seems to be watched only by parents at the sidelines of chalked-up fields in Canadian schoolyards everywhere.

So what will I be doing when England plays its first game? I was thinking about getting into this book I was reading about the industrialization of the Americas in the viewpoint of the Russian Proletariat, but then - without even realizing it - I found myself scouring the stores for anything red, white and blue - face paint doesn’t seem THAT expensive. Yesterday my neighbour complained about all the noise I’ve been making these last few nights. I guess I’ve been yelling COOOOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEE on EEEEEEEENGLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAANDDDDDDD!!!! in my sleep. Yeah right! Like I should believe that - oh wait, anyone seen my flag? Can’t go to the pub without it.