Scotland vs England - A view from south of the border
Just as the UK's football widows thought it was finally done for another summer, it was time to dust off the remotes and bar-stools as the Auld Enemies met once again.
This fixture evokes more passion than any other when it comes to international football on these shores and understandably so. Whilst qualification to a major tournament didn't entirely hinge on this contest like it did in 1999, it was massively important for Scotland in particular, for both their hopes of heading to Russia and national footballing pride which was at something of continuous a low ebb. The previous contests in the 21st century have all gone England's way, scoring three on all occassions. Prior to Saturday, the latest of which was a 3-0 triumph over "The Tartan Army" following a treble of headers from Sturridge, Lallana and Cahill. The scoreline, however was certainly not a true reflection of England's comfort levels and Scotland wasted numerous chances.
Despite all the monotony that usually comes with England fixtures (and that includes the 3-0 home win), there was something different about this fixture that I didn't feel until kick-off. Something that wasn't your typical England wonder-why-I-bothered. What was different was firstly, being able to watch the game without Clive Tyledsley, but more importantly was the outpouring of national passion from both sets of fans and dare I say, players. I don't mean the all too predictable booing of the national anthems, I mean the pure elation of the goals. (The last 3 anyway). Where England are concerned, these fixtures give you very little to gain. You're always the underachievers that should always be beating the likes of Scotland, Wales and Ireland, yet are the subject of ridicule when that invariably doesn't happen. That's fine. It's part and parcel of being the country with a star above your badge.
Despite the same uninspiring team selection that we all love to complain about, the game went from drab to dramatic in a matter of minutes. England until the 86th minute were labouring towards a win and 6th consecutive clean sheet of the campaign. On paper this would always look a straight forward contest when England can still confidently call upon in form players Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Adam Lallana to test a weary Scottish back-line. All of a sudden two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks left England staring at a humiliating defeat to a side that failed to beat Lithuania at home. Whilst this was clearly a game that meant more than Lithuania, it was going to be embarrassment all the same. That was until England, to their credit, dug deep and managed to sucker punch Scotland with a much deserved last minute Harry Kane equaliser. All things considered, a draw was probably a fair result.
As a huge Leicester fan, England used to be a welcome escape from our persistent Championship mediocrity until just a few years ago. Now, as a spoilt foxes fan, the international breaks can't end quickly enough. Over the years, I have lost almost all affection for England, which culminated in a threat of complete divorce from our national side after I stood in a French Euro 2016 fanzone watching us get dumped out of the European Championship by little old Iceland on the big screen. Ten years ago I might have cried at losing in that fashion. The qualifiers and friendlies since then, the lowly brass Wembley drone and the same old not even has-beens have led to me not caring about England unless our Jamie Vardy pulls on the famous White, Red or now Navy. Despite all these feelings of apathy towards our once revered national side, I haven't craved an England goal that much for a long, long time.
They're a very easy target, and I love a laugh at Scotland as much as the next fan but they really had all of us accepting defeat. Luckily the 11 on the pitch hadn't and despite scoring a 90th minute free-kick to surely win the game, somehow and as always, it was England who had the last laugh.
I might even watch the France friendly now.
This fixture evokes more passion than any other when it comes to international football on these shores and understandably so. Whilst qualification to a major tournament didn't entirely hinge on this contest like it did in 1999, it was massively important for Scotland in particular, for both their hopes of heading to Russia and national footballing pride which was at something of continuous a low ebb. The previous contests in the 21st century have all gone England's way, scoring three on all occassions. Prior to Saturday, the latest of which was a 3-0 triumph over "The Tartan Army" following a treble of headers from Sturridge, Lallana and Cahill. The scoreline, however was certainly not a true reflection of England's comfort levels and Scotland wasted numerous chances.
Despite all the monotony that usually comes with England fixtures (and that includes the 3-0 home win), there was something different about this fixture that I didn't feel until kick-off. Something that wasn't your typical England wonder-why-I-bothered. What was different was firstly, being able to watch the game without Clive Tyledsley, but more importantly was the outpouring of national passion from both sets of fans and dare I say, players. I don't mean the all too predictable booing of the national anthems, I mean the pure elation of the goals. (The last 3 anyway). Where England are concerned, these fixtures give you very little to gain. You're always the underachievers that should always be beating the likes of Scotland, Wales and Ireland, yet are the subject of ridicule when that invariably doesn't happen. That's fine. It's part and parcel of being the country with a star above your badge.
Despite the same uninspiring team selection that we all love to complain about, the game went from drab to dramatic in a matter of minutes. England until the 86th minute were labouring towards a win and 6th consecutive clean sheet of the campaign. On paper this would always look a straight forward contest when England can still confidently call upon in form players Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Adam Lallana to test a weary Scottish back-line. All of a sudden two Leigh Griffiths free-kicks left England staring at a humiliating defeat to a side that failed to beat Lithuania at home. Whilst this was clearly a game that meant more than Lithuania, it was going to be embarrassment all the same. That was until England, to their credit, dug deep and managed to sucker punch Scotland with a much deserved last minute Harry Kane equaliser. All things considered, a draw was probably a fair result.
As a huge Leicester fan, England used to be a welcome escape from our persistent Championship mediocrity until just a few years ago. Now, as a spoilt foxes fan, the international breaks can't end quickly enough. Over the years, I have lost almost all affection for England, which culminated in a threat of complete divorce from our national side after I stood in a French Euro 2016 fanzone watching us get dumped out of the European Championship by little old Iceland on the big screen. Ten years ago I might have cried at losing in that fashion. The qualifiers and friendlies since then, the lowly brass Wembley drone and the same old not even has-beens have led to me not caring about England unless our Jamie Vardy pulls on the famous White, Red or now Navy. Despite all these feelings of apathy towards our once revered national side, I haven't craved an England goal that much for a long, long time.
They're a very easy target, and I love a laugh at Scotland as much as the next fan but they really had all of us accepting defeat. Luckily the 11 on the pitch hadn't and despite scoring a 90th minute free-kick to surely win the game, somehow and as always, it was England who had the last laugh.
I might even watch the France friendly now.
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