World Cup 2006 Vindaloo Style
In Australia we are distracted by aussie rules and rugby league and do not have a full appreciation of the global appeal of soccer, or football as it is known throughout the world. Sadly, the Socceroos have bowed out of the World Cup 2006 but in England the dream lives on.
Australia's new found obsession with soccer is nothing compared with that of the English who are renowned for their fanaticism. For the World Cup 2006, all over England, flags bearing the St George Cross decorate shops, pubs, houses, cars and even flagpoles. People on the streets, young and old, proudly wear their soccer shirts emblazoned with the numbers of their heroes on the back. Red and white is everywhere and, to rhyme with soccer songs, the word England takes on three syllables.
Every aspect of the World Cup 2006 is analysed in great detail in the print and electronic media. Wimbledon has begun but barely rates a mention as soccer dominates the sports and regular news. The English became experts on the metatarsal bone with daily updates on the progress of Wayne Rooney's recovery from injury and mourned the untimely knee injury to Michael Owen in the opening minutes of the game against Sweden. Even the players' wives and girlfriends come under scrutiny. Posh Spice's every move is followed and the catty cliques amongst the WAGs (as they are known) were the subject of a double page spread in the Daily Mirror.
All aspects of English life are affected. Schools such as David Beckham's old school, Chingford Foundation in Essex, have banned the wearing of soccer shirts while the local school in Solihull has installed three plasma televisions so that students need not miss a minute of action. There was scandal in the English Big Brother household when housemates overheard the score from a guard’s walkie talkie and ran around the garden celebrating. Soccer themed advertisements are everywhere and there are special edition Mars Bars bearing the word believe on supermarket shelves.
For every World Cup, an official soccer song is released but rarely makes it to the choir in the terraces. Favourite songs for World Cup 2006 are Three Lions and Vindaloo. Three Lions, a tale of England's successes and failures, was written by the Lightning Seeds and comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner for the European Championships in 1996 and was re-released in 1998, 2002 and 2006. Vindaloo by Fat Les, an unofficial parody of football chants, was released for the 1998 World Cup and its simple and catchy lyrics went on to become a favourite amongst the crowd. In amongst repeated chants of the chorus, "na na-na (na na) vindaloo", are the simple lyrics, an expression of patriotism and love for the national cuisine,
"Vindaloo, vindaloo vindaloo, vindaloo, na na
Vindaloo, vindaloo, vindaloo, vindaloo, na na
Vindaloo, vindaloo, and we all like vindaloo
We're England
We're gonna score one more than you, England"
As the English team prepare for their next match against Portugal, all of England has come together to support them as they strive to bring the World Cup back to In-gah-land for the first time since 1966.
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