Group C is an interesting group, we have the cosmopolitan Orangemen,” free” Ukraine, Osterreich and the curiosity that is North Macedonia. I have a soft spot for them so that is who we shall begin with.
North
Macedonia was actually a part of the state of Yugoslavia which broke apart in
1991. Yugoslavia had qualified for Euro 1992 but as it did not really exist
anymore they were replaced by the Vikings who despite getting in through the
backdoor so to speak, something you would expect more from the Turks than the Vikings,
they went on to remarkably win the tournament.
Why North
Macedonia though, well Greece objected to its being called just Macedonia as
they claimed that is part of Greece and in 2019, twenty eight years after it
gained independence, an agreement was reached adding the North bit and making
everybody happy.
From a
footballing perspective they are definitely minnows, this is the first tournament
they have qualified for under either name. Their star player, Goran Pandev, is thirty
seven and they also have “Gjanni” Alioski, who plays for Leeds United and who
is universally accepted as being completely mental, and also one of the most
annoying players to play against, here he is being head butted by Pepe of
Arsenal,
one to watch
out for sure. They will finish bottom of this group but will be fun to watch.
Free Ukraine
is the name I have given to the remaining part of that country sandwiched
between Poland and the hungry Russian Bear who would like to gobble up the
remaining parts. Through history, Ukraine has suffered terribly at the hands of
the Russian Bear, Stalin starved five million of them in the 1930’s, however, one
cannot show too much sympathy for them as they were enthusiastic collaborators
with the Nazis in WWII. Their choice of shirt has poked the bear as it shows an
outline of the complete Ukrainian borders. As I expect them to finish third in
the group, they are probably in direct competition with the bear as to who will
have a better record and go through from third place.
Ukrainian shirt showing complete borders that has upset the Bear |
Ostertreich, which at least football wise is always in the shadow of their big brother, The Shermans. Although they will
deny it today, most Austrians were delighted when the Anschluss took place and
they finally became part of the greater Reich, one must never forget that Adolf
was an Austrian. An extremely dull and uninspiring team but efficient which
should be enough in this relatively lightweight group.
That leaves
us with the Orangemen, not those who march through the streets of Belfast every
July in their bowler hats, celebrating good king Billy’s victory in the battle
of the Boyne, but the original lot whom those Paddys have named themselves after.
The
inventors of total football, in the days of Cruyff and Neeskens, are perennial under
achievers, with only one Euro and no world cup successes, after appearances in four finals over all, to show
for all their beautiful football. They are technically very gifted but their
biggest problem has always been their mental attitude, still, as I said, this is
an easy group and the Orangemen should top it with ease.
Group D, there is not
much to say about the Czech Republic, when they were the Czechs and the Slovaks
they were pretty good, they are not so good now although they do have one or two useful players and to borrow a phrase from
cricket will probably not do much to trouble the scorers,
Croatia were
world cup runners up in 2018 beating EnGerLand in the semifinal, they are still
a good team and will give EnGerLand a run for their money and will qualify for
the next stage.
That leaves us with Bonnie Scotland and EnGerLand, this is a rivalry that goes back until the beginnings of time before even the countries existed, when the Northern hills were full of wild tribesmen who had a strange fetish for painting themselves blue (somethings don't change) and liked nothing better than to go South and plunder, pillage and the other thing you do on those days out, the civilized, peaceful hard working Southern tribes.
When the Romans arrived in Britannia, they decided it was just easier to build a wall slightly North of Newcastle from coast to coast to keep the Scots out, than try and civilize them. For fans of game of thrones this may sound familiar.
Once the nations had been formed there was more or less constant strife between the two until the act of Union in 1707 when Scotland was once and for all subjected to rule from London and even then it did not stop them having one more go in 1745 with Bonnie Prince Charlie who was finally defeated at the battle of Culloden in 1746 the last pitched battle ever fought on British soil.
Even today, there is still a large body of Scots who want independence from the Auld Enemy so this match up carries added significance.
As I have posited elsewhere, one could argue that football has replaced battles and when you watch the clip below, (it is long but try and watch to the end) you will see that the Scots have had some success for example in 1977 when they conquered Wembley with Ally Macleod Tartan's army. The joy was short lived and by 1978 had turned to tears after the Tartan army returned with their tail between their legs from a disastrous campaign in Argentina, but that is another story.
I was eleven at the time and lived in the neighbourhood next to Wembley,
we were used to fans roaming the streets on FA cup final day, but we had never
experienced anything like this, my parents did not let me leave the house that
afternoon. Pay attention to the attire of the Scottish fans, if you have ever
heard of the Bay City Rollers, they have got a lot to answer for.
In footballing terms, Scotland befitting the nation of Macbeth never
cease to provide tragedy for their fans and thus enjoyment for opposing fans,
because the thing football fans enjoy sometimes even more than their own team’s
success is the misery of other fans.
The last meeting between the two in the Euros in 1996 was at Wembley and
ended with an England victory and this iconic goal from Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne with which I shall leave you. There are so many moments of Scottish history in football but we will have to make do with this.
We will complete the previews with a look at groups E and F on Sunday, enjoy the football until then.
Well hardly a surprise with Mick Channon in the team - shtick fleisch! I was at Heathrow the day after said game in 1996. A Scottish fan was performing Noris dancing egged on by a huge crowd of fans and two bag pipers. His finale was a set of somersaults while wearing only his kilt and sporran
ReplyDeletewhat a goal from gazza
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