It’s our World Cup
Say what you want about Britain, you can’t get away from the fact that we are a very proud nation.
Whether it’s boom time or a recession, we Brits are fiercely loyal to our country, especially when it comes under criticism.
This hands-off attitude can sometimes be confused with arrogance, something some officials believe has to be avoided if we are to win the World Cup in 2018 or 2020.
But don’t the two go hand in hand? To be proud you have to be a bit arrogant but it doesn’t have to be in an offensive manner.
Take David Beckham, for example. No man could be more passionate about the game than he is. As an ambassador for our World Cup bid, we couldn’t ask for more. He speaks about the challenge ahead with dignity and pride and holds his head up high. Not arrogance but self-belief. What a different person he has become from the silly, hot-headed young player shown the red card all those years ago for his petulant kick.
England can and will host the World Cup, probably in 2018. At the bid’s official launch, Beckham spoke of the passion for the game which runs throughout our country, from grassroots to international level.
Great players always ask him what it is like to play in front of English supporters and hopefully they will find out. It is electrifying, passionate, intimidating and inspiring. If anyone could help us win the World Cup in 2018 or 2020, it will probably be the crowd. As Beckham so rightly says, no other country can match our supporters.
But it’s not just about the football on the field or the support in the stands. It’s about the facilities.
Britain has shown it can cope with hosting the very best in sporting events, starting with the Olympic Games in 2012. Compared with that, the World Cup would be a piece of cake – well, perhaps not quite that, but the standards will have been set and the infrastructure tried and tested.
We already have some brilliant Premiership stadia which are full week in, week out. They would be bursting at the seams when we stage the World Cup.
But it would be more than that. Football fans or not, soccer fever would once again sweep the nation and infect everyone, world-wide. We know how to support our team and how to put on a brilliant football party.
All we now have to do is to persuade our international friends and colleagues to get on board the passion train, destination England.
Say what you want about Britain, you can’t get away from the fact that we are a very proud nation.
Whether it’s boom time or a recession, we Brits are fiercely loyal to our country, especially when it comes under criticism.
This hands-off attitude can sometimes be confused with arrogance, something some officials believe has to be avoided if we are to win the World Cup in 2018 or 2020.
But don’t the two go hand in hand? To be proud you have to be a bit arrogant but it doesn’t have to be in an offensive manner.
Take David Beckham, for example. No man could be more passionate about the game than he is. As an ambassador for our World Cup bid, we couldn’t ask for more. He speaks about the challenge ahead with dignity and pride and holds his head up high. Not arrogance but self-belief. What a different person he has become from the silly, hot-headed young player shown the red card all those years ago for his petulant kick.
England can and will host the World Cup, probably in 2018. At the bid’s official launch, Beckham spoke of the passion for the game which runs throughout our country, from grassroots to international level.
Great players always ask him what it is like to play in front of English supporters and hopefully they will find out. It is electrifying, passionate, intimidating and inspiring. If anyone could help us win the World Cup in 2018 or 2020, it will probably be the crowd. As Beckham so rightly says, no other country can match our supporters.
But it’s not just about the football on the field or the support in the stands. It’s about the facilities.
Britain has shown it can cope with hosting the very best in sporting events, starting with the Olympic Games in 2012. Compared with that, the World Cup would be a piece of cake – well, perhaps not quite that, but the standards will have been set and the infrastructure tried and tested.
We already have some brilliant Premiership stadia which are full week in, week out. They would be bursting at the seams when we stage the World Cup.
But it would be more than that. Football fans or not, soccer fever would once again sweep the nation and infect everyone, world-wide. We know how to support our team and how to put on a brilliant football party.
All we now have to do is to persuade our international friends and colleagues to get on board the passion train, destination England.
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