Don’t Mention the War – On England, Germany and Football

Occasionally on this blog, we mention football (and here and here). And occasionally, we mention Monthy Python. The old English cliches about German krauts, however, appear to be fading away, thanks to a strange combination of politics and football. Just imagine what The Sun’s headlines ahead of tomorrow’s Bayern – Dortmund final at Wembley would have been back in the 1990s.

 

Amidtst all the talk about Germany being the most popular country in the world in this week’s BBC polls and England wanting to be more like Germany, it’s kind of reassuring to read in the Evening Standard’s reports leading up to the big match an Saturday why England is so popular with Germans: “English private education is one of the big draws — Germans have become the largest non-Asian group in Britain’s independent schools, not least because of the school uniforms.” Yep, and football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win. Gary Lineker is right. This time for sure.

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You may have noticed that there is a new “flattr” button on the website. If you “flattr” Dispute Resolution Germany, I will match the payment and donate the amount to amnesty international.

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