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England Fans are best say Germans.
The Sun Fans not sinning any more
Thats great news! Does this mean that on holiday I can now wear my England shirt (with pride)?
Well here in Hamburg while England were playing Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday you could you could have counted the England supporters on one hand. There was such a small display of casual support for England that I have to confess to feeling a little bit sad and dejected.
Of course everyone loves to love Brazil but I’ve also notice plenty of casual support for Portugal , Spain , Argentina, Ecuador, Italy and Paraguay et al. Not so for Ingerland. You can count the various international flags draped out by bar and restaurant owners many many times over. So far I’ve only seen three England flags ( and not ONE American flag…)
I wonder if it is due to the fearsome reputation of the fans? Or to do with our “Dont mention the score” political and sporting histories? One friend postited the opinion that people are not showing wholehearted support to England due to the Iraq war.
Or perhaps its to do with the newfound German patriotism. Since I’ve been in Hamburg I’ve never really seen anyone flying the German flag.
Being patriotic has always been confused with being Nationalistic and in gottes willen no one wants to be mistaken for that! Especially not in this country! I have always sensed a palpable feeling of shame here which might account for the verbissenheit and striving for perfectionism I mentioned earlier. No one was really openly positve and proud about being German.“National pride, especially when it comes to publicly displaying a love, or even a mild affinity, for Germany is still simply taboo.”
speigel.de Just Don’t Fly the Flag
Not so anymore. Being the hosts for an international knees up – “Die Welt zu gast bei freunden” – they really have outdone themselves with the arrangements for the World cup and they can be rightly proud.There’s a really amazing friendly atmosphere on the streets. Add to that the fact that Germany won the opening match and you’ve got two good reasons for all the flag waving.
After Germany won their match against Poland on Wednesday there was a huge party which continued well into the early hours!
Everywhere you go you can see the flag draped from balconies and flying from cars! Its not yet quite as advanced and pervasive as with the St George cross in England but if Germany keep winning it will surely reach epidemic proportions.
This headline from the Hamburger Morgenpost (translated as something like “no longer embarrassed to show our colours” ) shows the debate going on up and down the nation regarding nationalism vs patriotism. A similar debate to the one thats been going on in England for some years.
There are many many reasons other than The World Cup that the Germans can be rightly pround of their country in 2006. Big up yer German chests – its about time!
ps Come on Inglund!!! ;-)
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