Old Enemies
Interactive
作者：By Philip Patrick & Chris Cavey
England and Scotland may be parts of the same country, but when it comes to sport, they don’t always see eye to eye.
A few years ago, I played a friendly game of football with my friend and colleague, Duncan, and some Japanese students. Duncan is a pretty good footballer and he played very well and scored a great goal. After the match, two of his Japanese teammates congratulated him. “Great goal, Duncan,” one of them said. “We love your English style of play—just like David Beckham or Wayne Rooney.”
Duncan’s face was a picture. He was happy to be complimented on his football ability but not so happy to be complimented on his ‘English’style of play or compared to an English footballer. Duncan, you see, is Scottish. He’d prefer to be compared to famous Scottish players like Kenny Dalglish or Denis Law—and not to players for the team Scotland loves to beat—England!
For lots of people, it’s easy to get confused: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, England, Scotland… Are they all the same place? Ask this question to a Scottish football fan like Duncan and you’ll get a short answer: “No!”
The United Kingdom (UK) consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But by a long way the largest and most powerful is England, and the English are sometimes accused of acting in a superior way. Sport is a chance for the other UK countries to show their own identity and get some revenge on the English.
Although a joint Great Britain team competes in most Olympics sports, each of the four nations in the United Kingdom has its own national football team. England has the biggest population and, historically has had the most successful team. Their biggest achievement was winning the World Cup in 1966. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all qualified for World Cup tournaments, but it’s fair to say that none of them have been as successful as England. They have always enjoyed, however, the opportunity to defeat their bigger neighbour.