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"Let's All Become Israel Fans!" (in Soccer if not Politics)

by Zoe Strimpel
Sun, 18 Nov 2007 at 12:26 PM
updated Sun, 18 Nov 2007 at 12:44 PM

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Israel was at the center of the British stage on Saturday. And this time it was nothing to do with politics. No, it was the other great (maybe the greatest) British preoccupation that drove Israel into the limelight. What else but soccer?

The Russia-Israel game on Saturday was a qualifier for the 2008 European Championship, on which England forever pins its hopes, first of entering, then, of course, of winning. The crucial point about Saturday's game, which took place in Tel Aviv, was what it meant for England. If Israel beat Russia, England could still qualify — a Russian victory, though, would mean the team would climb past England into second place of their shared group. (England, Israel, and Russia are all in Group E; there are groups A-G.) With one game left, England would likely go home.

But Israel won, 2-0, with a goal in the 90th minute from Omer Golan. Which means England only has to draw with Croatia, also in Group E, on Wednesday to qualify.

Like a solar eclipse or a leap year, it is very rare, almost freakish, for Israel to enjoy the widespread love it received yesterday across the U.K. Newspapers boasted coverage of the game on their front pages; pubs had the match scrawled on blackboards outside to lure people in. And Facebook, the inevitable thermometer of Zeitgeist, however temporary, began pulsating with new groups, notes, and wall postings in support of Israel. Among groups formed and joined over the past few days: "Let's all become Israel fans!," "F***ing come on Israel!," and "Official back Israel with all your heart to get a result against Russia!" (The last of these has 728 members.)

If there's one thing the Brits will drop everything else for, it is football. National pride may be out of fashion, but when it comes to the game, it's all, unabashedly, unanimously, and passionately about England (shorthand for the England Team). "Come on England!!" is the championship battle-call of everyone from the most liberal of the intelligentsia down to the hooligans, and, of course, everyone in between.

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