Tuesday, June 29, 2021
No war slogans
England’s press before DFB duel noticeably tame
Otherwise it is also about tanks, surrender and similar terms of war. This time the English-German football duel is presented in a much less martial manner by the British press. In the second round of the European Championship, the English want to live out their pride.
Before the round of 16 in the European Football Championship between Germany and England, the British tabloids have shown themselves to be unusually tame. “Come on England, knock Germany away tonight,” wrote the tabloid “Daily Mail”, making the most hearty statement with regard to the Germans.
The “Sun” decided to play on words with the recently resigned Minister of Health Matt Hancock – the minister had kissed an employee and thus broke the corona rules. For example: “Let’s go Harry … even Hancock made you in,” it said on the “Sun” front page addressed to star striker Harry Kane.
The “Mirror” also got by without alluding to Germany. “A night for heroes” was the headline of the paper and featured large-format pictures of England coach Gareth Southgate and national players Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.
Germany was last European champion in England
The times when international soccer matches against the former enemy with slogans like “Attention! Surrender (surrender)” were announced seem to be over. This was the headline chosen by the “Mirror” in 1996, before Germany and England met in the European Championship semi-finals. Back then, Germany won on penalties and ultimately became European champions – to the chagrin of many Englishmen who actually wanted to win the trophy at the tournament in their own country.
The media still believe in a big win in their own stadium. There will be more than 40,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium. Most of them will sing along with “God save the Queen” and stand by England. This is also due to the coronavirus pandemic, which prevents fans from Germany from being allowed to enter. The DFB only expects around 2000 fans who are resident in Great Britain or Ireland.
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