There is Always English Pride

    While football (soccer) is the worlds game, it was given to the world by the English. It is our national sport, and we boast the best and most exciting league in the world. While from August to May the Premier League is a showcase for worldwide soccer talent, the focus over the next few weeks will be on Euro 2012, and for myself the England team.
    There can be few better feelings than playing for your country. Walking out in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, with millions more watching across the globe, all wishing they could be in that position. To represent your country is a feeling reserved for the few, and it is a feeling that few people could handle. The pressure is overwhelming, and in my opinion the difference between a club player and an international player comes down to been able to handle the pressure of the big occasion. The difference in quality is marginal, but the ability of these elite players to produce and show of their talent in front of the world is what sets them apart.
 
    As the Euros are now well underway, and as England prepare to enter another tournament, I felt it was a time to reflect on just what representing your country means. As an Englishman living in the United States it is clear to me that passion is something very much engrained in the English mentality. While the vast majority of Americans claim to be patriotic, it takes very little time once they discover you have an accent to reject their nation and claim to have English, Irish, or Scottish heritage. This is not patriotism, this shows a lack of true understanding of what it means to have pride in your country. I have never met an Englishman, or then again a Brit, who has ever claimed to have another heritage. To do this would be to show embarrassment towards your nation. To be English is to be proud. Yes, we consistently under achieve, and yes, our country and its government is a soft touch to the rest of the world. But to say I am English is one of the proudest thing I could ever say. It is who I am, and there are no words that could sum up the pride and feeling of coming from such a great nation.
   

Bobby Moore-Last England captain to lift a trophy

    While it has been 46 years since England lifted a trophy (World Cup 1966), and 16 years since they made it to the semi final of a tournament (Euro 96), there is still a belief in the nation that we can achieve great things. It doesn’t matter if that belief is unrealistic, that is what it means to support your country.
  
    As fans we can have very little control over the ability of the England team to perform in major tournaments, nor can we deliver the overhaul that is needed by the Football Association (FA) from the grassroots level up. All we can do is show our support. We will never agree with all the decisions made, and we will not always enjoy watching. But watch we will. We will celebrate when we win, we will cry when we lose, and we will put everything to the back of our minds for that hour and a half to support our country.
  
    As England head into Euro 2012 against a strong French team who have also underachieved over the last few years, it is the fans job to believe they can go all the way. Unfortunately, preparation is everything, and while much of what is going on is behind closed doors, bringing in a new coach, and having to appoint a new captain within four weeks of a major tournament is just not good preparation. Mix that in with the fact that there must be separation in the camp due to the behavior of several members of the team, and the inclusion and omission of several players must have caused some stir in the camp. The positive is that the English media are not tipping England for big things. For the first time in 46 years it seems that optimism is no longer prevalent. The talent that England have possessed in the past has had the ability to consistently challenge for trophies, and again and again we have failed. In 2001 we beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier, and we felt like we had won the World Cup. I myself got carried away in the hysteria, only for England to be knocked out all too easily in the actual tournament, and for Germany to go on and reach the final. While much of English pride was restored that night in Munich, and we showed the world what we were capable of, the sad thing is that is still what we are holding onto, eleven years after the event.
 

Did this result do more harm than good?

    Euro 2012 represents a chance for England to leave it all out on the table. It will be the last chance for many of the old guard, and while there are still many questions over the next generation we must show solidarity in our support. Realistically we should not expect England to go far. But while my brain says no, my heart is telling me otherwise. We are England, we have controlled the world, we had an empire on which the sun never set, and on our day we can achieve anything.