It’s been a matter of national anguish for years. MORE: The science behind why ‘Three Lions’ is the perfect World Cup song I reached the bus entire myself, just about, took out pen and notebook and began to write. Those that landed entire made the return journey. These they threw back – on a high, mortar-bomb trajectory – as we made our way to the buses.
But when we left the stadium, we found the citizens of Marseilles had thoughtfully collected the beer bottles abandoned by England fans. England beat Tunisia 2-0 – goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes, since you ask. At last the match started, and everything calmed down. The choir, reddened and maddened by sun and beer, sang:įollowed by more traditional chants celebrating England as a trisyllabic nation. The tune was Go West, a disco hit by Village People recently given a new lease of life by the aptly named Pet Shop Boys. There comes a point during the consumption of alcohol when speech is no longer practicable. Outside the Stade Vélodrome – odd name for a football stadium – the streets were filled with the shirtless. Now – had I landed on a snake? – the newspaper I worked for was sending me to Marseilles, travelling with the fans for England’s opener against Tunisia in the 1998 World Cup. There had been 50 arrests overnight, mostly England football fans. That’s what the newspapers said on the day of the match, though you’d never get next door’s cat behaving like that.
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