Within an hour the England team will kick off their first game of the Euro 24 tournament. If you are reading this after: don’t tell me the score.

As you can see your blogger is ready for kick off. The chest is puffed with pride wearing the three lions. My heart beats with the anticipated excitement of victory after victory. Till the final whistle is blown and the trophy is handed for the salute of the nation.

Of course my head says the trophy will be cheered by another set of fans. Since 1966 the consistent failure of the England football team has left us all disappointed. Expectation was always higher than the talent of the team in many of those tournaments, but that has changed. The talent of English players has been raised since the advent of the premier league. The best players in the world becoming teammates has lifted the skill set of many players.

I am not one for patriotism. Outside of sport it pitches one set of humankind against another in a game of worth more. Just because you are born within a border it does not make you deserve more. We are earthlings, we are humankind, we are worth as much as the whole.

Politics aside. The time for patriotism is now. A game of football.

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