Pride and passion
09/07/04 | by Ivan Murfin

"You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln.

A quotation that could well apply to an England team, more so their manager, uttered by the hordes of fans that saved, scrimped, borrowed, re-mortgaged houses and arrived at the brink of matrimonial divorce maybe, to follow their idols in Portugal last month.

Never had there been a more opportune time to 'bring football home', a concept that became even more intolerable to accept as the tournament progressed and the favourites dropped out of contention one by one. Unfortunately the passion on the terraces was once again unmatched on the pitch with certain individuals not even on the same galactic atlas never mind same road map.

Again we were promised the spoils of glory; again we were let down with poor performances prompted by bad tactics, lack of enthusiasm and a self belief that we retain the God-given right to win a game from a solitary goal and a steadfast defence. To be fair, we had our misfortune - a referee who became an undeniable Jonah and an untimely injury to the one player who had become our hope and salvation - but excuses can only heal slight wounds. Players from whom we have come to expect leadership, quality and honesty have let us, the fans in Portugal and the fans back home, down.

We were forced to watch Scolari, in almost frenzied animation, guide the Portuguese to the final, take 'head on the block' risks by substituting his people's idol and making tactical changes that actually worked and quantified his position as an remarkable international manager. Luis Figo was not cutting it, so he removes him from play, much to the disgust of Figo and the possibility that should the decision be wrong, but he was willing to accept the consequences. It did work - Figo came back in the next match and played as the world remembered him.

The tactics too worked, his substitution Rui Costa for Miguel against England late in the second half was inspirational, with the substitute providing the equaliser. That, my friends, is not only a clever manager, but one who has balls. He was not alone - the Greeks won the title through determination, fitness, a love of the game, fitness and under the guidance of a remarkable manager.

It was obvious to us all that our so-called inspirational captain was 'not at the game', not just for one match, but the whole tournament. Why then did he play? His admission after the finals that he was not fit is tantamount in my opinion to treason - he should have shown the moral fibre as a captain to hold his hands up and do the right thing for his team and not for himself.

Allegedly, during the Portugal-England match, the half time adverts on Portuguese TV consisted of three commercials all containing a certain England captain. They netted a small fortune for him and should he not have played then they would not have been aired… and no small fortune?? Make your own minds up.

Quite rightly so, our Swede, Sven has come in for much criticism, not this time from only the fans but from well-established and much-respected pundits and players themselves. But, disappointingly, not from Lancaster Gate. The manager who admits seven days before the finals that he still did not know his starting line-up, a manger who is quite happy to play unfit players, a manger who is quite happy to allow Gerrard into intensive contract negotiations throughout the finals with regards to his Liverpool future. The manager who does not have the balls to take the game to the opposition. Gary Neville - what was that all about? Where was Dyer? Where was Joe Cole?

The people deserve better, they deserve more. National pride was never so high: the beer flowed, the barbeques burnt and the flags left people in no misunderstanding to where they were. This is England, we are English, we have Pride, we have Passion. We just don't have a team!

Well done Greece. Roll on Germany 2006 - let's just hope that we are there.