I can empathize with the England fans and their disappointment in their football team. Here you have a roster comprised of players arguably from the best professional football league in the world--the English Premiere League. A benched player professionally earns what I could make in a year, but in two weeks. These men are Gods, and yet they underperformed in so many ways imaginable to their countrymen. The manager will inevitably be fired, and the players will probably lay blame on other factors rather than blaming themselves.
As an American, I truly can empathize, and you can too if you have ever been or are a fan of American basketball. Remember the 2004 Dream Team in Athens??? Though youthful, here the US had a team made up of the best basketball players in the world. They were top paid basketball players and came away with a bronze. The Dream Team lacked the pride and real want to represent the USA and continue the tradition of dominance in Olympic basketball. Though there are many factors that led to the disappointing result (e.g., the surge of International players in the NBA), I still wholeheartedly believe that these Americans had no sense of pride; they came to the tournament cocky and acted like ballers (and not skillful ballers, but money oriented ballers).
A part of me believes this is what England is experiencing right now with their football team. Most of their players are in the tabloids, they get paid way too much to play a sport, and they live their lives like Gods with the added expectation to the win the cup. They certainly had the talent to make it far in this tournament (not necessarily win, but advance further and perform better than they showed), but since June 12th they looked awful. As cheesey and cliche as it may sound, they lack heart and to me showed they weren't that bothered by this tournament.
So now England is at a crossroads as they reevaluate their team. Perhaps they'll pull a USA Basketball and put a fire under these pros.
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