WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : SPOTLIGHT : THE VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND
For the English press, having no team in the competition and very little tolerance for how soccer is treated in the colonies, World Cup ’94 is not exactly Happy Days. With only the team from the Republic of Ireland to root for--a disgusting fate but a tad better than pulling for, say, the Germans--they have been reduced to jabbing the USA.
Some of the better samples, both from The Sun:
June 22: “Whoever had done this grass (at Soldier Field in Chicago) had been smoking it, too. Normally, their stadiums (in the United States) use AstroTurf--to stop the crowds from grazing at halftime.”
June 24: “America was a nation in ecstasy yesterday, gripped by self-adulation. From being a TV tailpiece, soccer was suddenly headline news. The victory (over Colombia) was greater than that over England 44 years ago because this has set up the entire tournament for skeptical hosts whose initial purpose was merely to hire out the halls.”
And there was the Daily Mail story from June 18:
“There is, however, one English hopeful who stands alone. In the final game of the 1974 World Cup, Jack Taylor, a butcher from Wolverhampton, awarded a penalty to each team in West Germany’s 2-1 victory over Holland. Then, as now, England had failed to qualify. Now, as then, a referee offers our best chance of seeing an Englishman take part in the World Cup final. So, if you feel you have to wave your Union Jack boxer shorts for somebody, here’s your man. Mr. Philip Don of Handsworth Park, Middlesex, good luck. A nation watches.”
