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As England were being forced to draw one World Cup match after another, their home country of England was also on fire in its backyard, with a Scottish chain store sporting the slogan "Anyone but the English! " , to express their love and hate. But because of alleged racism, this slogan has been forced to remove
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English anger Scottish people laughed
But Butcher and even all the pain of the English people, precisely is the Scottish people Even Butcher himself admitted that he saw "even more Argentine shirts" in Scotland after his move to Rangers than he did in Mexico, and that all the fans who didn't support Rangers would shout "Argentina" at him! "......
Butcher soon realized that he was perhaps the only one in the national team, and indeed in Scotland, who wasn't going to welcome Maradona and his Argentine national team with open arms - precisely because Maradona once played with his Argentine national team. -precisely because Maradona had once disgraced his arch-rival England in a most egregious but at the same time perfect way, which made him a national hero in the eyes of the Scots, even as the entire Argentine team was warmly received in Glasgow.
Scotland has been rejoicing over Maradona's arrival at Glasgow airport since he arrived on Sunday, with fans even pulling up a banner reading "Maradona Chapel" in front of the hotel where the Argentine is staying, much to the delight of the old horse himself. "I'm happy to say 'hello' to all the Scottish fans, and I'm grateful for their support," said Ma, whose only autograph to the fans at the airport on the day of his arrival was on a poster bearing the "Hand of God" moment. "I'm well aware of how popular I am in Scotland and I'm happy to have made a lot of people happy. I want to thank these lovely fans with a feast of soccer and it would be great to entertain everyone one more time."
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The question of whether Scots should cheer for England has caused a storm in Scottish politics.
The matter came to a head when Scotland's first minister, Jack McConnell, was asked in May if he would cheer for England during the World Cup, saying, "Scotland --- my team --- not at the World Cup! That's really disappointing. Some people think that I, as First Minister, should be supporting England instead! But soccer is not politics, so I won't do that. For the tournaments I can see, I will support different teams."
Asked again which teams, McConnell then cited a number of teams with players playing in the Scottish league! Angola and Trinidad and Tobago, for example - Trinidad and Tobago are the very opponents England will face in the group stage. The comments were then criticized as Scotland stirring up anti-England sentiment.
Local newspapers revealed that McConnell had privately dismissed the criticism as "garbage" and that he was talking about soccer, not politics, and publicly emphasized that he was not encouraging Scots to be anti-England.
McConnell last Thursday slammed the BBC and One TV, the two national television stations, for being "too supportive" of England and "too biased" when commenting on the matches in which England was involved, and said he hoped they would remember that they represented "all of England" and "all of Scotland". "all of England", not just some parts of the country.
McConnell's comments do speak for the Scots. Britain's finance minister Gordon White, himself a Scot, has said that two-thirds of Scots would support England, but polls show that two-thirds of those who do want England to lose.
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Xue Fei: The contradiction between the two nations is extremely obvious in soccer matches. For example, in World Cup qualifiers all Scots want England to lose. And England gloated about the possibility of the Scottish team not making it to the World Cup. When we traveled from Scotland to London, our landlord dismissively told us: THAT'S ANOTHER NATION. even when the general election was held this summer, the Scots didn't care that Blair would be elected, but rather how many seats Scotland's party would take.
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If there's anyone on the planet who particularly looks forward to England losing, it's the Scots.
Let's see what the Scots have been doing for a while. There's a Scottish "country bumpkin" named Ferguson who is trying to prevent England's No. 1 striker Wayne Rooney from going to Germany to play in the World Cup. After Rooney arrived in Germany, Ferguson continued to be unforgiving, cursing England and saying that if Rooney was injured again, he would sue Eriksson. Ferguson is just a microcosm of the Scottish, many Scottish fans have recently gone crazy betting on England's World Cup fiasco. Scotland's fan organizations, but also specifically organized a large number of fans to pubs and squares for England's World Cup opponents shouting and cheering.
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Former Manchester United star Davor Yorke has revealed that United boss Alex Ferguson definitely wants England to lose at the World Cup. York, once an attacking weapon under Ferguson, leads a Trinidad and Tobago side that will face England, their second World Cup group stage opponent, in Nuremberg today.
York had returned to train with Manchester United after last season to get in shape to lead Trinidad and Tobago in the World Cup. In an exchange with his old boss, Ferguson, it was clear to York that Ferguson wanted a York-led Caribbean side to put England to shame.
York said: 'Every Scot, including Ferguson, would love us to beat England. If we do, I'm sure Sir Alex Ferguson will call me the next day." "We never expected to meet England in a World Cup match. No amount of thanks feels enough to Ferguson and his men, they made me feel like a Manchester United player again and they made me competitive in the game again." "Ferguson told me to go and enjoy it, to enjoy the tournament, that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that my career would be over after the World Cup. He told me to be confident and that's what you need most on occasions like this."
Many Scots are backing Trinidad, a team that has five players playing in the Scottish league. York, who is currently with Sydney in the Australian league, was delighted to meet his United brothers again. "I bring them my best wishes and they send me the same."
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While there was no shortage of fans wearing England kits in the Scottish capital, the people of Princess Street seemed indifferent to the match. Before the England-Trinidad and Tobago match began, all this reporter heard was a drunken couple in a bar near the Scottish Parliament yelling, "Go Trinidad and Tobago!"
The pre-match anti-English atmosphere didn't seem to be strong, yet during the game the Edinburgh fans were actually wearing Trinidad and Tobago jerseys and chanting, "England, you're going home!" Any fan standing in front of the stadium could hear them singing. England finally avoided being humiliated by the Scots after more than 80 minutes of bitter fighting when Crouch and Gerrard scored late goals.
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On the eve of England's battle with Brazil, everyone in the United Kingdom hoped England would beat Brazil. But Scotland was an exception. In Scotland, England's rivals in the World Cup, such as Argentina, Denmark and Brazil's jerseys have been sold out; not a single Scot has signed up to participate in the England Cheerleading Team to Japan; whenever England has an international match, there is only one voice coming out of pubs all over Scotland: beat England! In this regard, a BBC reporter interviewed O'Brien, director of the Scottish National Football Museum in Glasgow, the world's first soccer museum.
Only a Scottish team can represent the Scots
Q: Why do Scottish fans hate England so much?
A: First of all, people on the outside don't realize that we Scots and the English are different peoples. In the last three hundred years, the English have conquered us. But before that, Scotland has been an independent country. Secondly, England has a population of over fifty million people compared to Scotland's five million or so, so there has always been a sense of oppression among Scots. Thirdly, the media in England has always had a feeling of condescension towards us in Scotland. For example, your BBC, that is, the British Broadcasting Corporation, should actually be called the English Broadcasting Corporation in our opinion. When you guys mention the England team, you always say something about our team, but actually the England team is not our Scottish team, it can't represent us Scots ah! Only the Scottish team can represent us Scots.
England steals the honor of being the birthplace of modern football
Q: But isn't Scotland part of Great Britain?
A: The point you mention particularly annoys me. For example, the whole world is now saying that England is the birthplace of modern soccer because the English have spread the concept around the world. But the truth is: we Scots invented modern soccer. For example, in the World Cup that's being played in Japan and South Korea now, the basic feature is that you've got to pass the ball, you've got to run, and that's our Scottish soccer. Whereas England's soccer back then was to stand there and play the ball all by yourself and then wait for the other team to come and grab the ball. This was most evident at the world's first international match in 1872. At that time our Scottish team was passing the ball and attacking non-stop, while England stood there and waited for the Scottish players to go up for the ball. That game ended in a one-all draw, but proved that Scotland was the birthplace of modern soccer. We Scots have always been furious that England have stolen the honor of being the birthplace of modern soccer.
The English media have been demonizing Scottish fans
Q: But now the English media are saying that Scottish hatred of English soccer originated when England won the world championship in 1966 because the Scots couldn't bear for England to win the world championship, is that right?
A: No, Scottish fans' hatred of English soccer goes way back to 1966. Back in the 1880s, Scotland and England played a match in Blackburn, England, a match in which the seeds of hatred between the two sides were sown. At the time large numbers of Scottish fans traveled south to England to support the Scottish team. But the focus of the English media coverage was on how odd we Scots looked and how redneck our Scottish accents sounded, talking about how we Scottish fans were terrorizing towns and cities in England. Tell me, isn't that racist? The English media have been demonizing Scottish fans, a situation that can only lead to Scottish hatred of the English national team.
Scots can never support England
Q: But England have always supported Scotland when the Scottish team has played in international matches. Why, in return, can't the Scots get behind the England team?
A: We believe that this statement by England is treating the Scots in a condescending manner. It's as if the English tapped the Scots on the shoulder and said I've got your back, you get mine too. But we Scots don't eat that, we Scots have our own independent opinions and we won't be impressed by these false petty favors. You know, it's hard for two neighboring countries to support each other's teams. Is it possible for a Dutch team to support a German team? Might the Canadian team support the American team? It's never going to happen. Therefore, the Scots could never support the England team either.
Don't confuse English soccer with Scottish football
Q: Why do the Scots insist to this day that they are a country within the United Kingdom, not a region?
A: You have to realize that until the two countries were united in 1606 and the two parliaments were merged in 1607, Scotland had been a fully independent country for over five hundred years before that. Even today, Scotland has its own justice system, its own education system, its own church, its own currency, and we are still a very independent entity. Many Scots still think today: merging with England would be a very bad thing. You are right, we all belong to the United Kingdom. But culturally, we are independent. In soccer, we are even more independent of England. Our biggest fear is that outsiders will confuse English soccer with Scottish soccer. We very much hope that outsiders will understand that in the United Kingdom, Scotland and England are two very different peoples.
Scots will not agree to a merger of the Scottish and English teams for a thousand generations
Q: But haven't the top two teams in the Scottish Premier League, Rangers and Celtic, always wanted to be in the English Premier League? How do you explain this situation?
A: It's purely for commercial reasons on the club side, because those two teams would benefit commercially if they joined the English Premier League. But when it comes to the national team, that's a completely different matter. The Scots would never in a thousand generations agree to a merger of the Scotland and England teams to create a Team Great Britain of some sort.