Spain win 2010 WORLD CUP.

[Guest The Three Lions]

Citing the koran while the national anthems being played, Goebells wept.

 

You feel the same about players blessing themselves or saying a quick Hail Mary?

No because that's part of the heritage of our country, and they don't do it while God Save The Queen is belting out.

[ewerk 26441]

Citing the koran while the national anthems being played, Goebells wept.

 

You feel the same about players blessing themselves or saying a quick Hail Mary?

No because that's part of the heritage of our country, and they don't do it while God Save The Queen is belting out.

 

So is your problem with the fact he's reciting the Koran or that he's not singing the national anthem?

 

I noticed quite a few England players the other night not joining in with the anthem.

 

And if you're claiming religious oppression as part of the English heritage then you're spot on.

[manc-mag 1]

Oh here we fucking go..!

[Guest The Three Lions]

Citing the koran while the national anthems being played, Goebells wept.

 

You feel the same about players blessing themselves or saying a quick Hail Mary?

No because that's part of the heritage of our country, and they don't do it while God Save The Queen is belting out.

 

So is your problem with the fact he's reciting the Koran or that he's not singing the national anthem?

 

I noticed quite a few England players the other night not joining in with the anthem.

 

And if you're claiming religious oppression as part of the English heritage then you're spot on.

Both and particularly doing it during the national anthem. The Klose and Podolski thing, they're so proud of their Polish heritage why don't they fuck off and play for Poland then, if they don't feel closely alligned enough and proud to be German to sing the national anthem.

 

Rooney never joins in, he's scouse and has an Irish name, no doubt been brain washed in to Irish Republicanism by Roy Keane.

[Guest alex]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

[ewerk 26441]

The spud-munching fuckwit.

 

IMO all players should sing their national anthem but the fact is that a lot of them don't. Those that choose not to sing it can do whatever the fuck they want in the meantime.

 

And if Klose and Podolski don't sing it because of their Polish roots then I agree with you, they shouldve played for Poland.

[ewerk 26441]

Ledley King out for 2-3 weeks according to some of the papers.

 

Looks like that gamble has back fired.

 

Only taking fit players weren't we?

 

Fit and in form was the criteria I believe.

[Guest The Three Lions]

The spud-munching fuckwit.

 

IMO all players should sing their national anthem but the fact is that a lot of them don't. Those that choose not to sing it can do whatever the fuck they want in the meantime.

 

And if Klose and Podolski don't sing it because of their Polish roots then I agree with you, they shouldve played for Poland.

This.

 

[Craig 6308]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

[Craig 6308]

Ledley King out for 2-3 weeks according to some of the papers.

 

Looks like that gamble has back fired.

 

Only taking fit players weren't we?

 

Fit and in form was the criteria I believe.

 

And we took Carragher because??

[Guest alex]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I do like Jerusalem but it's a load of religious bollocks really.

[Guest The Three Lions]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I vow to thee my country is my favourite.

I get goosebumps listening to the first 25 seconds of this.

[Tom 13881]

Can Muse not just make one?

[ewerk 26441]

Ledley King out for 2-3 weeks according to some of the papers.

 

Looks like that gamble has back fired.

 

Only taking fit players weren't we?

 

Fit and in form was the criteria I believe.

 

And we took Carragher because??

 

And Heskey and SWP and I'm sure there's a few more there.

[Craig 6308]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I vow to thee my country is my favourite.

I get goosebumps listening to the first 25 seconds of this.

 

Got too much an association with Rugby Union these days though.

[Guest The Three Lions]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I vow to thee my country is my favourite.

I get goosebumps listening to the first 25 seconds of this.

 

Got too much an association with Rugby Union these days though.

Really? I thought that was Swing Low.

 

I'm on half days for the rest of the group phase, and I think the best game so far will kick off in an hour, gonna watch Japan v Cameroon in the gym, they better have it on.

[Guest alex]

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot being sung at Wembley during Euro '96 was nearly as bad as watching Andy Moller's celebration after his winning penalty.

[Guest The Three Lions]

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot being sung at Wembley during Euro '96 was nearly as bad as watching Andy Moller's celebration after his winning penalty.

Too right, that was about the time that England's match going fans started changing for the worse.

[Craig 6308]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I vow to thee my country is my favourite.

I get goosebumps listening to the first 25 seconds of this.

 

Got too much an association with Rugby Union these days though.

Really? I thought that was Swing Low.

 

I'm on half days for the rest of the group phase, and I think the best game so far will kick off in an hour, gonna watch Japan v Cameroon in the gym, they better have it on.

 

Swing Low Sweet Chariot is the anthem of the English RFU. In a similar vein to the Champions League, the Rugby World Cup has it's own 'theme' which is "The World in Union". The tune is the same as "I vow to thee my country".

[Guest The Three Lions]

It's shite how it's all about the Queen though. I'm a patriotic and don't have a problem with the Queen as I think she seems like a verfy dignified person etc. but I don't agree with either the institution or the national anthem being all about that institution rather than the country as a whole. Rooney probably doesn't know the words tbf.

 

Totally agree. 'Jerusalem' or more probably 'Land of Hope and Glory' would be far more appropriate as a national anthem IMO.

I vow to thee my country is my favourite.

I get goosebumps listening to the first 25 seconds of this.

 

Got too much an association with Rugby Union these days though.

Really? I thought that was Swing Low.

 

I'm on half days for the rest of the group phase, and I think the best game so far will kick off in an hour, gonna watch Japan v Cameroon in the gym, they better have it on.

 

Swing Low Sweet Chariot is the anthem of the English RFU. In a similar vein to the Champions League, the Rugby World Cup has it's own 'theme' which is "The World in Union". The tune is the same as "I vow to thee my country".

I know what you mean now, that fat Maori woman used to sing it didn't she.

[manc-mag 1]

Only the Welsh national anthem is any kop out of the whole of the UK and Ireland's offerings tbh.

[Guest The Three Lions]

Only the Welsh national anthem is any kop out of the whole of the UK and Ireland's offerings tbh.

 

Ireland's Call is good though glad they use it for the rugby.

Can you remember that time in the Olympics or it might've been a Steve Collins fight, where they didn't have a tape of "Soldier Song", so this bloke came out the audience and sang "Oh Danny Boy" on the canvass

[manc-mag 1]

Only the Welsh national anthem is any kop out of the whole of the UK and Ireland's offerings tbh.

 

Ireland's Call is good though glad they use it for the rugby.

 

Aye, Ireland's Call is decent. You want to get them swapped tbh.

[Park Life 70]

Good article about what a non event country Germany has become

 

Germany v Australia: Mesut Ozil at head of the vanguard for new generation

When the camera pans along the German team on Sunday, and that famous national anthem thunders out across the Durban stadium, Mesut Özil’s lips will be moving but he won’t be singing along.

 

 

By Duncan White

Published: 7:48PM BST 12 Jun 2010

Duncan's Twitter | Duncan's fantasy team

 

Man in the middle: Mesut Özil watches German team-mates at training Photo: REUTERS

 

No, Özil will be reciting the Koran to himself. "It gives me strength," he has explained. "If I don't do it before a game it gives me a bad feeling."

Özil is at the vanguard of a new Germany. This is not the Mannschaft of Teutonic cliché, it is the most ethnically diverse squad in the tournament. Of the 23, 11 were eligible to play for a different country.

While there have been several Polish-Germans of Silesian background to have played for Germany (including Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski in this squad), Joachim Löw's team also has players of Bosnian-Serb, Brazilian, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Polish, Tunisian and Turkish descent.

This new German team has been many years in the making. Hosting the last World Cup catalysed a reassessment of what it means to be a modern German.

The success of Jürgen Klinsmann's side at the tournament united the country and gave birth to a patriotism that was not weighed down by the baggage of history.

The national flag, with all its dubious nationalist association, was suddenly an object of pride and, to the astonishment of many, was even hung from the windows of houses in the German-Turkish community.

 

Germany was changing and so was its football team. Between 1995 and 2004, 1,278,424 foreigners took German citizenship and the laws regarding eligibility were liberalised in 1999 through major reforms.

 

The new face of German was represented in the football team, with black players of African background like Gerald Asamoah, David Odonkor and Patrick Owomoyela winning caps.

 

The latter was the subject of a predictable right-wing backlash when he was included in the squad for the World Cup four years ago.

 

The right-wing NPD (the equivalent of the BNP) produced a calendar with a picture of the national shirt with Owomoyela's squad number on it and the slogan: "White: not just the colour of the shirt! For a real National team!" The leader of the party was taken to court by Owomoyela and the German FA and found guilty of inciting racial hatred and given a seven-month suspended sentence.

 

Four years on and there remain mumblings of nationalist discontent about whether this team represents the 'real' Germany. Most Germans are relaxed about the singing of the national anthem but the Bild newspaper has tried to force it as an issue. Klose and Podolski have always refused to sing it and several of the new generation joined them.

And then there is Özil with his Koranic incantation. When Franz Beckenbauer was manager he demanded all his players sang the anthem – and this year he's at it again. Times have changed.

 

Özil is a fascinating case. With the injury to Michael Ballack, German fans have been looking to a new inspiration for the team and the Werder Bremen playmaker has stepped up. He is tremendously skilful and unpredictable and is arguably the most exciting young player at the finals.

 

That he has even chosen to represent Germany could have resonance for the future of the Turkish-German community, especially if he leads them to success here. In a 2007 survey it was estimated that there were 1.7 million people living in Germany of Turkish descent, by far the largest ethnic minority in the country. Yet Turkish-Germans, like the Altintop brothers, often opted to play for the country of their parents.

 

Özil is different. He is a third-generation immigrant who feels himself a blend of both cultures. He grew up playing with other immigrant children, from Bosnia, Lebanon and Turkey, in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck, and rapidly emerged as an exceptional talent. "My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game," he said, "the discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part."

 

At the European Under-21 Championships last summer, Özil destroyed England in the final, making two and scoring a free-kick as Germany won 4-0. In that same squad were Dennis Aogo, Sami Khedira and Jerome Boateng, sons of Nigerian, Tunisian and Ghanian fathers respectively. Marko Marin, a Bosnian-Serb whose family moved to Germany when he was two, was also in that group. All four have been promoted to what is Germany's youngest squad at a World Cup.

 

Boateng is the only player to play abroad, and he only signed for Manchester City last weekend for £10 million. He is the brother of Kevin-Prince, the Portsmouth forward. Both played for Germany at every youth level but last year Kevin-Prince declared for Ghana and they will be in opposition in the final group game on Wednesday week. It tells you everything you need to know about the mobility of international football that brothers can be in opposition at a World Cup.

 

That mobility is also evident with Cacau. The Stuttgart striker is favourite to start ahead of Bayern Munich's Miroslav Klose against Australia after some strong performances in the warm-up friendlies. He qualified for German citizenship after five years of residency and, like Marcos Senna with Spain and Eduardo of Croatia, has opted to represent his adopted country. He could be one of the surprises of this tournament.

 

With a Brazilian-Polish strike partnership (Cacau-Podolski), a Turkish playmaker (Özil), a Tunisian holding midfielder (Khedira), a Bosnian-Serb winger (Marin), Nigerian and Ghanaian full backs (Aogo and Boateng), and an elegant Turkish centre-back (Serdar Tasci), you can throw out all the old stereotypes about German football when they play Australia. This is a new Germany, and in South Africa, a country itself profoundly marked by racial division, they want to show that they are the future.

 

Attacked from all sides on NO and accussed of racism for bringing this up.

 

The Germans are basically cheating.

[Park Life 70]

The spud-munching fuckwit.

 

IMO all players should sing their national anthem but the fact is that a lot of them don't. Those that choose not to sing it can do whatever the fuck they want in the meantime.

 

And if Klose and Podolski don't sing it because of their Polish roots then I agree with you, they shouldve played for Poland.

This.

 

 

BERLIN—Germany's national soccer team has run into a dust-up over the refusal of some of its players to sing the country's national anthem—as if losing its captain to injury weeks before the World Cup wasn't bad enough.

 

In recent warm-up games before the 2010 World Cup begins in South Africa next week, only a handful of Germany's ethnically diverse starting lineup have been singing, or at least lip-synching, as the national hymn, "The Song of the Germans"—a truncated version of the original that began "Deutsch land, Deutschland über alles"—plays before kickoff.

Journal Community

 

The lack of moving lips might have gone unnoticed by most Germans, who since World War II have remained largely dispassionate, and even shy, about most overtly patriotic gestures. That is, until German and World Cup soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, otherwise affectionately known as "Der Kaiser"—"the emperor"—weighed in earlier this week with rousing disapproval.

 

"All of them should sing the anthem," said Mr. Beckenbauer, 64 years old, who won World Cups as both a player and coach, during a videotaped call-in session Monday organized by the German tabloid Bild-Zeitung. "It can't be that the fans in the stands or watching at home sing along but those on the field don't."