Henry Winter’s World Cup Diary, Day 29
Miami to Kansas City
I know this shouldn’t be a big factor in a great World Cup, but I particularly enjoyed spending Friday night in Miami meeting England fans in a few lively bars on Miami Beach. Miami at night, despite a brief thunderstorm, ranks with Mexico City (fun, vibrant, crazy) and New Jersey (country pub) as my top three nights spent with England fans at this World Cup. The age range ranges from 35 to 60, with club affiliations ranging from Wimbledon to Manchester United and Leeds United to Newcastle United and Chelsea.
They are all passionate England fans and have experienced so many tragic times for England: the wasteland of the 1970s, the frustration of the 1980s, the flickering candle of hope in the 1990s, which was then cruelly blown out. All these fans have been through a lot of this. Thomas Tuchel called it an emotional rollercoaster. But a roller coaster brings a series of climaxes. England had not done that until Gareth Southgate took over and now Tuchel has taken over.
They remember tuning in to watch the 1986 Aztec event. Now they are exorcising the ghosts of the past. These fans also remember Turin, Saint-Etienne, Charleroi, Shizuoka, Lisbon and Gelsenkirchen. They remember not qualifying for Euro 2008, knocking South Africa out, suffering more penalty hell in Kiev, and going home from Brazil before the malaria pills had taken effect. They recalled with shudder the horrors of Nice. So when they see Jude Bellingham playing with such power, fun and desire, they believe England have changed. Now there is a chance.
⚽ ⚽
England have been designated as Atlanta’s “home” team and will play in white. This means Argentina will be on the road. blue. They wore it during the “Hand of God” and Goal of the Century at the Aztecs in 1986. They wore it in ’98 when they were at Saint-Etienne, David Beckham was sacked and then England were sent off by France on penalties. It will be interesting to see who gets Lionel Messi’s jersey on a full-time basis. It could have been a respectful exchange with Jude Bellingham, a recognition of each other’s talents. However, considering Diego Maradona’s Azteca shirt was auctioned for £7 million, Messi’s shirt from his final World Cup game will be even more worthy of the collection.
⚽ ⚽
Debates about football rage in newspapers, magazines and on the telephone. Social media further accelerates communication. Consider the response I received at Miami Stadium. “Really? Goodbye [sic] referee. Hope you win the World Cup now. But it feels like we were robbed today. “This was the brilliant former Norway international Alfie Haaland’s post-match response to my half-time post on X, praising Bellingham’s influence.
I wrote: “Odegaard began to take control of the game. ‘England is coming home’, the Norwegian fans sang. Bellingham decided that wasn’t going to happen. He took over the game, took responsibility, created chances, took chances. What a player he was. The best I’ve seen in 35 years of covering England. 1-1 up”. The half-time performance was fair enough, with the main reaction being whether Bellingham was better than Paul Gascoigne. (Yes, because he has a stronger mentality).
Haaland Sr. was in Miami watching the game and was understandably frustrated by Norway’s exit from the World Cup and the manner in which it was conducted. He believed French referee Clement Turpin was too sympathetic to England. His son Erling was penalized for pushing Elliot Anderson, and although Anderson fell slightly easier, it did appear to be a two-handed push. VAR intervened and disallowed Torbjörn Hegem’s shot.
The Norwegian team also complained that Bellingham’s equalizer was achieved through a deflection of the spider camera. FIFA’s Snico said there was no contact. But, at the very least, FIFA needs to work with their photographers to make sure the wires aren’t too low.
I knew how people would react to Haaland’s answer, and seeing that England fans were already turning out in droves, so I kept my response diplomatic. The Harlands team, the Norwegian team and the entire support team are such impressive people who have contributed so much to the World Cup that it is important to remain respectful and not cause further conflict. So I replied: “Norway had a great first half. England were held back by Bellingham. That’s little consolation, but your players and supporters did your great country proud”. And they did.
I sent it as a reply rather than a quote tweet, which would have sent it to my 1.1 million followers and strengthened the communication and made it more public from the painful experience. It still has 5 million views. Personally, I don’t think Turpin is bad, players make mistakes too. Just imagine what would happen if Alexander Soros squared off against Aleph’s lads when Norway was leading 1-0?
⚽ ⚽
A group of England fans, who had traveled from England, sat high up in the Miami Stadium. They looked around at their neighbors sitting there wearing Three Lions jerseys. “If you’re from England, please stand up,” they began chanting, indicating the level of fandom. Of course, many of the people around them are expats, Americans of British descent, simply fans of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane’s teams or Premier League fans. In a way, it’s a tribute to England.
⚽ ⚽
Surprisingly, the perspective suddenly strikes me. I struggled with the vending machines at the Kansas airport where you had to enter a product number into the machine, pay, and then hope the correct product fell into the basket. The young man helped and then asked me about my accent. So I asked him. He was born in Kansas, but his parents were from Micronesia. It was his first time flying there. His father died and was buried in Micronesia, and he was on his way to mourn and pay tribute.
Catch up on the rest of Henry Winter’s World Cup diary here