Champions of Europe

Greece have already amusingly defeated hosts Portugal in the Euro 2004 soccer Tournament. Hurrah!
Of course, one used to admire plucky Portugal but now they are such a team of arrogant cry-babies and molly-coddled superstars that it is always fun to watch the Portugese lose: Man O' War? More like Poodle of Capitulation!
Naturally, all the newspapers in England are full of dark forebodings and predictions of the carnage, mayhem and bloodshed that will be unleashed by the arrival upon foreign shores of Albion's infamous wine-soaked Hooligans. These descendants of the Redcoats are often branded as "lazy and stupid and drunk" by the media; which is ironic, since those three words also describe the composition of many of the articles written about them. I feel like I have read this piece of frothy bilge in the Spectator at least three-hundred times before in other magazines and papers:
Lazy writing? Pretty much.
Stupid thesis? It's certainly mis-informed.
Drunk on its own denunciations? You betcha.
Whenever I have visited football stadia in England the fans have always seemed sober, good-humored and passionate about the game, creating a jovial, entertaining and lively atmosphere. So perhaps it is only when they travel abroad that the English transform themselves into the demons we always hear about: lobotomized Evelyn Waughs on steroids and lager is what it amounts to, apparently.
Anyway, England play France tomorrow (Sunday), so we will see what the day brings both on the field and off.