Germany v Argentina - Who does an Englishman Support?

Its agony, total agony, who to support for the World Cup Final?!??!

I'd of course started off the cup supporting England, I knew the fall was coming so was not surprised when they lazed their way out of contention, at least we weren't drubbed like Spain or Brazil.

I set my sights on supporting our near neighbours then, so I supported Belgium, the Netherlands and even France against Germany... All to fall at their respective hurdles.

I thought the Netherlands loosing on penalties was very stinging, I'm convinced they played the better game, and I really don't like the Argentine attitude, either on the pitch or off.

But both Argentina and Germany have history with us here in Britain, Wars mainly, and both are still pains in our political backside, most recently Germany with the PM loosing his case against J C Junkers getting into office, and their interminable economic dominance of the continent they tried to take by force in the 40's.

But then the scars of that conflict are old, and played as computer games, and if not forgotten they've been forgiven.

Its the centenary of the first world war too, so we're not forgetting that great conflict at German hands either, but still I'm more riled by the Argentines.

Their attitude over the Falkland islands has not gone unmentioned on this blog before, their politicians use of that topic to distract from home affairs problems they have, and their general blinkered approach to the islanders themselves voting to be part of the UK protectorate... It just beggars belief that the rest of the world doesn't look at them a bit more lob sided when they start sounding "Viva las Malvidas" or what ever they call them... Because if you've ever met a Falkland Islander (and I have) they have a slight Norfolk style twang to their very English/British accents!

They have red letter boxes, and red telephone boxes, even the Argentine soldiers who landed in 1981 said "we landed and took a look around, and realised this was nothing like back home", "we'd been taught the island was part of Argentina, taken from us, but there was no sign of home here, it looked like London on the postcards", "we knew we were a long way from home when we saw the people, for some reason we expected them to speak Spanish, then there was the car crashes as they drove on the left".

It all said it all really, but those accounts get ignored, and I think quite strangely when the British forces had cleared up they offered to return the Argentine dead to their homes, but they refused, they refused those grieving families the chance to bury their Sons, Brothers, Fathers and Uncles.  Instead making the political statement that the dead should be buried on the Falklands, as it was "part of Argentina", this from an illegal government who "disappeared" millions of innocent civilians and orchestrated and illegal war, nice moral high ground there lads.

I can tell you now folks, we British have buries so very many of our forefathers, Ruper Brooke said it best:

IF I should die, think only this of me;  

  That there's some corner of a foreign field  

That is for ever England. There shall be  

  

In his poem "The Soldier", he spoke of the first world war, but it fits so aptly with our British experience in the middle east, the far east, India, Malasia, across the battlefields of the ages the British Empire stuck its ugly nose.

So we know when you're not wanted, and not liked, and the Falklands are an area where Argentina bark up the very wrong tree...

So, with all that said, I'll just have to support Germany for the Final...