“He’s done it for St George!”
I enjoy sport. I
really enjoy playing sport but, over the years, laziness and an inability to do
changing room and bar-room banter has prevented me from playing as much as I
perhaps would have liked. Coaching sport
is always good fun, especially a sport like cricket because when it comes to
playing cricket there isn’t a proper set time for the game to last, and it can
drag on, and so there are fewer parents or supporters to speak with at the
boundary rope. I truly am awful at small
talk, simply cannot do it.
Living in New Zealand for the last decade has meant watching
the country grind to a halt three times for Rugby World Cups and then once for a
Lions’ Tour. The pressure on the All
Blacks to win these tournaments or competitions is immense. In actual fact, the pressure is absurdly
immense because there isn’t merely the pressure to win: there is the
expectation that you will win. When they didn’t win in 2007 it was not well
received. When they drew with the Lions,
again, the result was not well accepted…although a draw was better than a loss; and the fact we all stood looking at each other in the pub in bemused
anticlimactic fashion, so getting angry about the whole thing would have been
laughable. Though I imagine some managed
to do that.
This Football World Cup though has been curious to experience. Now, being Welsh and after having lived in
New Zealand for so long, I'm fully aware of the incongruity of someone like me
even daring to have an opinion on this matter but: listening to the radio
commentary on the first English game was just wonderfully entertaining for the
way in which Chris Waddle conducted himself as the game went on.
We have all been led to believe that the refreshing thing
about this World Cup is that there is
no pressure and no expectation. Gareth
Southgate has a young side in his charge and they are there for experience; to
enjoy their selves; to play some football, and; to come home, not too quickly if
they wouldn’t mind, and then begin to gear up for a proper challenge to the
next European Championships and subsequent World Cups after that. And, to be fair to Chris Waddle, this party
line was toed up until the first penalty claim by England was not referred for
further examination by the new off-field refereeing assistant using video
technology to review on-field decisions.
After that moment, Chris Waddle fought a conscious internal battle to
not revert to type and start demanding that England play better and win the
game. He very nearly won, and it was a
delight to listen to.
You can’t help it.
When you’re watching your team play a sport the visceral desire for the
euphoria of victory is consuming. As
everyone knows: why be in the game if you’re not there to win it? Whether you are actual world-beaters or not,
no sports player crosses the white line with the attitude that they are so
happy to be there to make up the numbers.
I would be furious if I knew that to be the case of any sports team I
supported.
So, to hear Chris Waddle actually speaking through clenched
teeth, to hear his incredulity when time was nearly up and the fourth official
indicated that there would only be four minutes of added on time: “No way… No
way… should have a zero after it…. That’s embarrassing.” Was beautiful to hear. And, of course, when Harry scored, he did it
for St George, so the commentator said.
It was a magical moment of Orwellian practice. The commentator was overcome by the sweetness
of last minute victory and gave way to a genuine emotional response that the
previous 90 minutes of neutrality could no longer keep bottled up.
I don’t do TV, the radio is my company through this event.
They have fashioned a glorious team. I know I couldn’t do banter with them but
I’m glad they are broadcasting their own for people like me to be able to
listen to.
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