Moscow At the ticket raffle for the pack viewing in Hyde Park, all servers collapsed, the royal family and noble fans like Robbie Williams are shaking along with it, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has to be criticized for resigning at the wrong time – and all of this is perhaps just the beginning. In England, the ever-present enthusiasm for football before the World Cup semi-final against Croatia on Wednesday (8 p.m. CEST / ZDF and Sky) has reached new heights.
“The boys from 1966 are still adored today,” said England coach Gareth Southgate, referring to England’s only world title 52 years ago: “But today, in the modern age, it would all be even crazier.”
The Three Lions want to write the penultimate chapter of their heroic story against Croatia. But the island is already upside down. That there will be no public viewing is only due to the name. Because that is the English term for “investigation of the corpse”. There will be “public screenings” for this. The largest in London’s Hyde Park, where the band Lightning Seeds will also perform and sing the longing lines “Football’s Coming Home”. The demand significantly exceeded the number of 30,000 tickets. The lucky ones had to be drawn by lot – some World Cup tickets were easier to get hold of. And the demand was so great that the technology failed.
“The World Cup fever has gripped London and the whole nation,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan. And that’s why the Three Lions see themselves on the road at the World Cup on a social mission. “Our country has had some tough times when it comes to unity,” said Coach Southgate. “Sport and football in particular have the power to address that. It is a special feeling and a privilege for us. “
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Football has long since grabbed everyone. From the Kensington Palace, Prince William tweeted personally, which is very rare. “You wanted to write history and now you are doing just that,” wrote the heir to the throne. Pop star Robbie Williams posed these days in the England training jacket and tweeted: “FOOTBALL’S COMING HOME”. Football is coming home, the title of that song from 1996 has long since become the motto for the motherland of football.
A fan had Harry Maguire, the goalscorer from the win against Sweden, tattooed on his leg. Maguire promised him a jersey, a fashion company even wants to dress him for free for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, the fans have rewritten a song for Southgate that can currently be heard on the streets and in pubs not only in England, but also in Russia. In their version of the pop song “Whole Again” by the girl group “Atomic Kitten” they confess their affection for the successful coach: “Southgate, you are the only one.”
The football euphoria in Croatia is assuming similarly crazy proportions. Normal life in the country of four million people will almost come to a standstill on Wednesday evening. The theaters have canceled their performances, the supermarkets close on time for kick-off. The original “Vatreni” jerseys have been sold out almost all over the country for two weeks. National coach Zlatko Dalic is firmly convinced that his team can land the big coup. “We are a country where anything is possible – four million inhabitants, four million coaches, four million players,” he said on Tuesday evening.
The biggest tabloid “24sata” praised the gloves of national goalkeeper Danijel Subasic for the best cheering photo. There were pictures of small children and dogs in national jerseys. A couple even pulled the national jersey over their wedding dress and suit. “Croatia has captured the total football hysteria,” wrote the celebrity portal “Index”. President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who celebrated the quarter-final victory in the dressing room with the players, will be in the stadium for the third time and this time will also bring Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic with her.
In this mix of emotions, the players on both sides have to concentrate on their sporting task. Because the starting position is strange: you can write history – England only made it to the final once, Croatia never – and have already achieved a lot. A defeat on Wednesday would still be remembered as a lost opportunity. The English try to be relaxed. “This feels like a big vacation,” assured veteran Ashley Young, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Monday: “It’s not boring for a second, we enjoy every moment.”
But such a big story has long since become a national matter and is mixed up with other things. The “Sun” apparently could not choose between the game and the resignation of British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson for the title page. So on Tuesday the tabloid showed Johnson in the England jersey in a desperate gesture and headlined: “Don’t you know that there is a damn game coming up?” True to the motto: The resignation would really have had two days left.
In Croatia, too, the prominent commentator Goran Vojkovic turned to politics and asked: “Why are Croatian footballers much more successful than Croatia.” Mamic is making positive headlines again. “After years of oppressive reality, disputes, polarization and boycott over one person, Croatian football has the chance to put an end to its ugly past and turn a new page in history,” it said.
So it’s about sports history on Wednesday. And yet also about more than football.
