bovril

Nah UK is more boned than Republic of Ireland. They have one of the lowest NEET rates in Europe, ours is now second worse after Romania. There are anti immigrant riots seemingly every summer here now, will only increase I'm sure.

Real collapse of Ottoman Empire vibes to the UK at the moment. An embattled elite trying to keep it all together with talk of shared values that nobody seems to want to believe in anymore.

Slightly nuts to think there have been 6 world cups between this one and France 98, the same as between France 98 and Mexico 1970.

tbh loyalists don't really need much encouragement to riot

Italy-Germany semi final was an all time game. But there were lots of disappointing games as well. Perhaps the 2 most purely entertaining of my lifetime were in places you wouldn't expect - USA and Japan/Korea. Russia 2018 was also a very entertaining tournament. If I had to pick just 1 tournament to relive, it'd be France 98. A combination of great players, some great games, and the atmosphere of a major sporting event in France. But probably just because I was 13. An iconic tournament.

Feel like this is said every summer now. Who knows maybe it isn't just boredom...

I don't really want my daughter growing up in Britain. There is crime including violent crime in other countries but there's an increasing feeling here that we are constantly on the verge of an extremely violent event and even if that's somewhat magnified by social media, it's no way to live life. That's before you even get to violence towards women.

Everton fans were infamous for racist chanting iirc

Our Irish friends about to get in on the action, must be a world cup year.

Meanwhile he was booed by Everton fans in 2000 for being half Turkish. Typical story for dual nationals - too foreign for here, doesn't fit in back there...

Life of Brian was censored and banned in numerous places when it was released.

I have a lot of friends in Marche and it's a lovely region that goes under the radar. Ascoli is a very pretty town. Lombardy has enough in serie a and b. Ascoli have played around half their seasons in the top 2 divisions which as you say is an accomplishment in a country where it's tough to be a provincial club from a less urban region.

yeah it's bizarre

And finally it's Ascoli that does it! Beautiful town in an underrated region and, to borrow an English football fan cliche, a 'proper' football club that has often punched above its weight.

Kind of hard in Europe to name something after a historical figure and not gravely offend your neighbours, I'm just thinking about being Irish and walking round any British town centre...

America and Australia are settler colonies though. Neither England nor Britain are. I think one of the reasons Englishness is more contentious these days is that we associate ourselves more with those countries than European nations to the extent that some people actually start to think we're the same - the whole 'nation of immigrants' stuff that has popped up recently and doesn't really fit England at all. But I think the main reason is that we globalized our language and culture to the extent that it stopped belonging to us. And the things that define us as a nation are now so nebulous. And we never got to grips with the end of our empire, we still want to be global, connected to the Commonwealth etc. The Scots and Welsh seem a lot more comfortable being simply a European nation, the English not so much. Also what you say about the kids of immigrants is not just about vibes. In most countries including the UK a child born to immigrants in that country is not necessarily a citizen. To go back to the first point, we're not America.

Everytime I click on this thread I brace myself and yet somehow it's even worse than I fear

Connections Puzzle #1091 🟪🟪🟪🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦

I always liked England's Irie. World in Motion being omitted is just typical Guardian contrarianism.

We really did make a pact with the devil.in 2015 didn't we

As well as being a slimy piece of shit, I'm not sure there's ever been a greater gap between how smart someone thinks they are and how smart they really are than with JD Vance.

How the hell does this team lose to 2022 Serbia

To be fair Brits for years perfected the art of slagging off other countries without knowing anything about them so it's quite funny now the UK is the target

Potentially a fun group

He's an interesting person and very different from your average footballer both in terms of character and career so it's a shame the recent documentaries and series have been so superficial and bland.